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linEOLCGICAL  fe£MlNAKy.i 

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-  BX  9225  .H46  B34  1857 
Baillie,  John,  1816-1890 
Memoir  of  the  Rev.  w  H 
Hewitson,  late  minister  of 


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MEMOIR 


REV.  ¥.  H.  HEWITSON 


LATE   MINISTKE   OF   THE 

FREE   CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND, 

XT    DIBLETON. 


THE    RE  Y.  JOHN    BAILLIB, 


UMLITROOW. 


'  As  a  fossil  in  the  rock,  or  a  coin  in  the  mortar  of  a  ruin, 
So  the  symbolled  thoughts  tell  of  a  departed  soul : 
The  plastic  hand  hath  its  witness  in  a  statue,  aud  exac- 
titude of  vision  in  a  picture ; 
And  so  the  mind  that  was  among  us  in  its  writings  is 
embalmed." — Proverbial  Philosophy, 


NEW   YORK: 
ROBERT    CARTER    &,    BROTHERS, 

No.     530     BROADWAY. 

1857. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

1812-1837, 

Boyhood— Early  Aspirations— College  Life  .    ,    ,    .    .  .15 

CHAPTER   H. 
1837-1840. 

The  Religionist  and  the  Christian — Setting  Out— Twilight  Grop- 
ings — Literary  Tastes — The  Unknown  God — The  Crisis  ...    36 


CHAPTER  ni. 

1840,  1841. 

Self-Dedication — First  Fruits — Correspondence — Close  of  College 
Course — Evangelistic  Zeal— Personal  Holiness 94 


CHAPTER  rV. 
1841,  1842. 

Health  giving  way— Residence  at  Grangemuir — Conflicts — Symp- 
toms of  Consumption — Diary — Correspondence — License    .    .    63 


CHAPTER  V. 

SUMMER    1842. 

Residence  at  Bonn — German  Society — The  Sabbath  in  Germany 
— Spiritual  Trials— Illness— Return  to  Dalmellington  .     ,     ,     .     77 


■VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1842-1844. 

Eetirement  at  Dalmellington— Study  of  Prophecy— The  Lord's 
Second  Coming  —  Rejoicing  in  Hope  —  Personal  Holiness  — 
Health — Views  of  the  Christian  Life — Madeira 86 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

1844. 

Ordination — Leaving  Home — Arrival  in  London 110 

CHAPTER   Vni. 

1841-1844. 

State  of  the  Church  of  Scotland— Impending  Crisis— Tlie  Con- 
vocation—The Disruption ■    .    .  116 

CHAPTER   IX. 
1844,  1845. 

Lisbon — Diary — Correspondence — Popery  and  Infidelity — Divine 
Training — Snares  and  Conflicts — The  Armor  of  God — Spiritual 
Analysis — The  Word  a  Lamp— Way  made  plain— Sails  for  Ma- 
deira      124 

CHAPTER  X. 

1844. 

Madeira — Antichrist — Original  Narrative  by  Dr.  Kalley — His 
Early  Labors — Awakening  among  Portuguese — Open  Air  Meet- 
ings— Effects  of  Reading  the  Bible — Persecution — Bible  de- 
clared "  a  Book  from  Hell" — Excommunication — Imprisonment 
of  Dr.  Kalley — Gospel  preached  in  Jail — Hatred  of  Bible — 
Sentence  of  Death — Assassination  recommended — Serra  Prison- 
ers—  Singing  Praises  —  Dr.  Rally  visits  Lisbon  —  Meets  Mr. 
Hewitson 149 

CHAPTER  XI. 

1845. 

Arrival  in  Madeira — Meetings  with  Inquirers — Preaching  in  Portu- 
guese— Baptisms — Position  of  Dr.  Kalley — Progress  of  the  Work 
— Zeal  of  the  Converts :  their  Sufferings,  Faith;  Patience— Com- 


CONTENTS.  Vn 

munions — Opposition  of  the  Priests— Threatened  Indictment — 
Precautions — Imprisonments  for  Reading  the  Bible — Extermi- 
nating Warfare  against  the  Word — Source  of  Converts'  Joy — 
Portuguese  Imprisoned  for  Teaching  to  Read — Growing  Thirst 
for  the  Gospel — New  Attempts  to  arrest  the  Work — Obey  God 
rather  than  Men — Communion  under  Cover  of  Night .    ,    .    .167 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

1845,  1846. 

Madeira — Illness — Consolations — Progress  of  the  Work — Train- 
ing of  the  Converts — Dangers — Secret  Disciples — Theological 
Class  —  Communions  —  New  Conversions  —  Native  Ministry — 
Threat  of  Imprisonment — Ordination  of  Elders — Outrages — 
Dr.  Kalley's  Escape — Sufferings  of  Converts — Their  Exile  .     .  192 


CHAPTER  Xm. 

1845,  1846. 

Ministry  in  Madeira — Source  of  its  Power — Notes  of  Conversa- 
tion—  Daily  Walk — Preaching  of  Christ  —  Pastoral  Letter  — 
Notes  by  Dr.  Kalley — Review  of  the  Work 216 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1846. 

Return  Home  —  Correspondence  —  Conversation  —  Tidings  from 
Madeira — Appointment  to  Trinidad — Arsenio  da  Silva — Char- 
acteristic Incident — Departure  for  Trinidad 229 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1847. 

Sails  for  Trinidad — Voyage — Madeira — Anival — Joyful  Meeting 
— State  of  Portuguese — Their  Hardships — Spiritual  Condition 
— Portuguese  Hymn-Book — Thirst  for  the  Word — Hi^Self-for- 
getting  Zeal — Arrival  of  Arsenio  da  Silva — Church  Cfrganized 
— Leaves  Trinidad — Death  of  da  Silva 247 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

1847,  1848. 

Voyage  Home — Conversion  of  a  Sailor — Death  of  Dr.  Chalmers 
— Labors — Singular  Holiness — Correspondence — Call  to  Dir- 
leton 2G8 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

1848,  1849. 

Ministry  at  Dirleton— Method  of  Preaching— New  Scene  of  La- 
bor— Expectation  of  Success — Prayers  and  Pains — Commu- 
nions— Specimen  of  Ministrations — Simplicity  of  his  Faith — 
Trials  and  Consolations— Characteristics— Conversation  .    .    .  284 


CHAPTER  XVHI. 

1849,  1850. 

Tenderness  in  visiting  the  Sick — Conversation  in  Heaven — Cor- 
respondence—  Ministerial  Work  —  Church  Courts  —  Visit  to 
Southampton — Growing  Meekness — Sermons  to  Children — Ex- 
ample— Increasing  Weakness — Memorial  of  a  Visit  to  Dirleton 
— Last  Communion  Sabbath 308 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

1850. 

LAST   DAYS. 

Patience  in  Suffering — Invitation  to  Prayer — Letter  from  Rajah- 
gopaul — Public  Ministry  closed — Conversations — Tenderness  in 
Preaching — Watchfulness  over  his  Flock — Assurance — Visit — 
Increasing  Weakness — Blessed  Hope — Dying  Testimony — Calm 
Peace — Silent  Sabbaths — Familiarity  with  Greek  Testament — 
Moral  Gravitation — Prayer — Spiritual  Judgment — Expectation 
of  Success  —  Earnestness  —  Human  Depravity  —  Divine  Sov- 
ereignty —  Agonizing  Sufferings —  Parting  Visits  —  Calm  Tri- 
umph— Concern  for  his  People — Death — Funeral  Sermon — Re- 
flections      346 


PREFACE. 

The  following  Memoir  has  been  prepared  for  two 
reasons ;  tlie  one,  Mr.  Hewitson's  character — tlie  other, 

his  worh. 

The  singular  elevation  of  his  Christian  walk,  so  far 
surpassing  what  is  ordinarily  seen  in  this  age  of 
dwarfed  spirituality,  is  fitted  to  stimulate  the  people 
of  God  to  loftier  attainments  in  holiness,  and  fitted 
also  to  arrest  and  win  to  Christ  those  who  "have  a 
name  that  they  live,  but  are  dead." 

It  is  no  mere  sentimentahst  whose  character  we 
portray.  Genius  and  high  scholarship,  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  Christ,  and  laid  "  a  living  sacrifice"  at 
His  feet,  is  the  life  sketched  in  these  pages.  The 
reader  will  discover  with  how  fascinating  a  charm  that 
element  invests  the  man  of  God. 

In  this  department  the  Author  has  found  it  no  easy 
task  to  make  a  fitting  selection  firom  the  mass  of  Mr. 
Hewitson's  letters.  The  principle  which  has  guided 
hira  was.  to  select  those  which  were  properly  biographi- 

1* 


X  PREFACE. 

cal,  because  exhibiting  the  writer's  characteristic  fea- 
tures. The  form  of  extracts,  rather  than  of  entire 
letters,  has  been  adopted,  in  order  to  allow  room  for 
the  more  interesting  and  illustrative,  as  well  as  to  af- 
ford variety.  It  would  have  been  less  dif&cult  to  ex- 
tend the  Memoir  two-fold  than  to  compress  it  within 
its  present  proportions. 

The  great  work  in  Madeira,  in  which  Mr.  Hewitson 
was  privileged  to  bear  so  large  a  part,  is  here  exhib- 
ited, in  its  inner  history,  for  the  first  time.  Occasional 
contemporary  notices,  and  a  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Eoddam 
Tate,  R,  N.,  have  acquainted  the  British  public  with 
certain  flagrant  proceedings  of  the  Romanists  in  Ma- 
deira, and  with  not  a  little  of  the  sufferings  of  the  con- 
verts. But  the  work  itself  which  led  to  these  pro- 
ceedings has  not  hitherto  been  known,  and  for  the  ob- 
vious reason,  that  to  publish  it  at  the  time  would  have 
been  the  sure  method  of  arresting  its  progress,  and  no 
opportunity  has  since  arisen  for  laying  it  before  the 
public. 

The  details  of  that  work  are  furnished  from  two 
sources : — 

From  notes  by  Dr.  Kailey,  prepared  by  him  for  this 
publication.  These  will  be  found  to  be  singularly 
fresh  and  graphic. 

From  Mr.  Hewitson's  letters,  written  on  the  scene, 
and  addressed  to  friends  in  Scotland.  Among  these 
letters  are  some  official,  but  private,  communications 


PREFACE.  XI 

to  the  Committee  at  home,  placed  by  the  Committee 
at  the  Author's  disposal. 

The  reader  is  thus  put  in  possession  of  a  continuous 
and  authentic  history  of  that  very  remarkable  move- 
ment. 

What  was  that  movement  ?  Not  a  mere  intellec- 
tual revolt  from  the  absurdities  of  Eomish  teaching, 
but  a  wide-spread  and  palpable  conversion  of  heart 
unto  God — a  living  scriptural  Church  called  out  of  the 
very  midst  of  Papal  darkness — a  noble  band  of  con- 
fessors willingly  forsaking  houses,  and  lands,  and 
country,  for  Christ's  sake. 

The  history  of  such  a  movement  is  not  a  little  in- 
structive at  the  present  juncture.  It  tells  once  more, 
in  language  which  no  sophism  can  mystify,  that  Rome 
is  the  uncompromising  enemy  of  an  open  and  under- 
stood Bible.  It  tells  that,  before  such  a  Bible,  Rome 
cannot  maintain  her  ground.  It  tells  that  nowhere 
may  not  Christians  go  forth  in  hope  and  expectation, 
if  only  they  go  forth  in  faith  and  prayer,  proclaiming 
the  Lord's  gracious  call,  "  Come  out  of  her,  my  peo- 
ple." 

It  has  been  the  Author's  aim  throughout  the  Me- 
moir to  allow  Mr.  Hewitson  to  speak  for  himself. 
Viewing  the  task  of  a  biographer  to  be  somewhat 
analogous  to  the  setter  of  a  precious  stone,  he  has  en- 
deavored simply  to  set  the  pearl,  not  to  overlay  it. 
The  constant  interruptions  arising  from  the  pressure 


Xll  PREFACE, 

of  necessary  avocations  during  the  few  months  which 
have  elapsed  since  Mr.  Hewitson's  death,  must  be 
pleaded  as  an  apology  for  any  marks  of  crudeness 
which  deface  the  Memoir. 

For  the  kind  counsel  of  several  friends — among 
whom  he  is  constrained  to  name  the  Eev.  Horatius 
Bonar  of  Kelso,  Mr.  William  Dickson,  Edinburgh, 
and  the  Rev.  James  Dodds,  Dunbar,  the  last  of  whom 
has  contributed  some  valuable  reminiscences — he  feels 
deeply  grateful.  He  also  begs  to  acknowledge  the 
cordial  aid  of  the  various  other  parties  who  have  fur- 
nished the  letters  of  Mr.  Hewitson,  to  which  the  Me- 
moir is  so  largely  indebted.  His  thanks  are  likewise 
due  to  Dr.  Baird  of  New  York  for  the  "  Record  of 
Facts  connected  with  the  Persecution  in  Madeira," 
published  by  the  American  Christian  Union,  and  for- 
warded to  the  Author. 

"We  are  come,"  writes  Isaac  Taylor,  "to  no  easy 
and  gentle  mood  of  the  world's  history.  This  is  no 
hour  of  leisure,  and  facility,  and  soft  persuasion. 
Whoever  dares  not  speak  explicitly  and  boldly,  had 
better  not  speak  at  all.  The  adherents  of  the  gospel 
must  either  forfeit  all  chance  of  a  hearing,  or  act  with 
a  correspondent  energy  and  promptitude.  Whatever 
overloads,  encumbers,  defaces,  our  faith,  should  be 
thrown  aside.  Whoever  is  loaded  with  the  stuff  of 
this  world,  whether  interests  or  prejudices,  will  be 
chased  from  the  field,  or  fall  there  ingloriously." 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

The  subject  of  this  Memoir  "dared  to  speak  ex- 
plicitly." He  spoke  by  his  holy  life.  A  soldier  unen- 
cumbered by  "  the  stuff  of  this  world,"  here  occupies 
the  field,  and  he  neither  is  chased  away  nor  falls  in- 
gloriously.  His  watchword  is,  "We  know  that  we  are 
of  God,  and  that  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness." 
The  watchword  he  can  use  without  embarrassment, 
for  he  himself  consciously  walks  in  God's  fellowship. 

What  is  it  which  so  often  evacuates  of  spiritual 
power  the  most  polished  and  accomplished  ministry  ? 
"  A  man  may  preach,"  says  Boston,  "as  an  angel,  and 
yet  be  useless.  If  Christ  withdraw  His  presence,  all 
will  be  to  no  purpose.  If  the  Master  of  the  house  be 
away,  the  household  will  loathe  their  food,  though  it 
be  dropping  down  about  their  tent-doors."  And  how 
is  the  Master's  presence  secured  ?  Not  by  a  sudden 
transition  from  the  bathos  of  a  carnal,  world-conform- 
ing walk,  to  the  altitudes  of  a  professional  earnestness 
or  the  gravity  of  a  pulpit  hour,  but  by  a  habitual  con- 
secration of  the  soul  to  God — ^by  the  tender  appeals 
and  the  affectionate  longings  of  one  who  abides  in  the 
secret  place  of  the  Most  High. 

"Follow  me,"  said  the  Master,  "and  I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men."  Is  the  maxim  understood  ?  At 
least,  is  it  followed  ?  "  Meditate  on  these  things,"  said 
a  disciple  who  had  learned  its  meaning ;  "  give  thyself 
wholly  to  them."  Paul  could  say,  "  Thanks  be  unto 
God,  which  causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ,  and 
maketh  manifest  the  savor  of  his  knowledge  by  us  in 


XIV  PKEFACE. 

every  place."  And  why?  Because  to  him  person- 
ally "  to  live  was  Christ." 

Mr.  Hewitson,  it  will  be  seen,  "followed  Christ" 
— followed  Him  everywhere — followed  him  as  his  all. 
And  what  was  the  result?  "I  have  often  since  felt 
the  influence  of  that  interview,"  is  the  testimony  of  an 
English  minister,  after  the  lapse  of  three  years  from 
the  occasion  on  which  they  had  once  incidentally  met. 
"  The  hallowed  pathos  with  which  he  uttered  his  views, 
and  the  'passion  for  souls'  which  he  evinced,  com- 
pelled me  to  think — 'Here  is  one  of  those  godly  men, 
whose  holy  fervor  exceeds  the  endurance  of  their 
bodily  frames,  whom  God  permits  to  shorten  their 
lives  apparently  by  ardent  desire  and  action,  that  a 
half- worldly  and  lukewarm  church  may  get  a  scriptu- 
ral idea  of  zeal  for  God,  through  a  living  example 
— an  epistle  known  and  read  of  all  men," 

Rebuked,  and  at  the  same  time  stimulated,  by  the 
pattern  of  heavenly-mindedness  and  devotedness  de- 
lineated in  these  pages,  the  Author  humbly  commends 
it  to  the  notice  of  his  brethren,  praying  that  He  who 
fashioned  this  "vessel  of  mercy"  may  stir  in  many 
hearts  a  holy  ambition  to  be  cast  in  the  same  heaven- 
ly  mould,  and  filled  with  the  same  Divine  treasure. 

Ajaril  29,  1861. 


mmx  nf  tlie  Htn.  50.  %.  Smtoam 


CHAPTER  I. 

1812-1837. 

Boyhood — Early  Aspirations — College  Life. 

"To  restore  a  commonplace  truth,"  writes  Mr.  Cole- 
ridge, "to  its  first  uncommon  lustre,  you  need  only 
translate  it  into  action."  WaTking  xoitli  God  is  a  very 
commonplace  truth.  Translate  this  truth  into  action, 
how  lustrous  it  becomes!  The  phrase — ^how  hack- 
neyed !  the  thing — how  rare !  It  is  such  a  walk — not 
an  abstract  ideal,  but  a  personality,  a  life — which  the 
reader  is  invited  to  contemplate  in  the  subject  of  this 
Memoir.  The  wilderness  sojourn  was,  indeed,  brief. 
Like  Martyn,  and  M'Cheyne,  and  Brainerd,  and  Nefi", 
he  quickly  reached  "the  city;"  but,  like  them,  he 
lived  long  in  a  little  time.  "A  man  that  is  young  in 
years,"  says  Lord  Bacon  wisely,  "may  be  old  in  hours, 
if  he  have  lost  no  time ;  but  that,"  he  adds  no  less 


16  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

truly,  "happeneth.  rarely."  It  did  happen  witii  Mr. 
Hewitson,  Late  in  ^setting  out,  lie  had  no  sooner 
taken  his  place  in  the  Zionward  course  than  his  life 
became  not  so  much  a  walk  as  a  race. 

William  Hepburn  Hewitson  was  born  at  Culroy, 
a  small  village  in  the  parish  of  Maybole,  in  Ayrshire, 
on  the  16th  September,  1812.  His  boyhood  was  not 
marked  by  any  peculiar  trait.  Of  a  delicate  frame 
— so  delicate  as  to  have  often  occasioned  to  his  parents 
no  small  anxiety  as  they  looked  on  his  pale  coun- 
tenance,— ^he  never  had  any  taste  for  those  boyish 
frolics  in  which  the  young  tinker  of  Elstow  so  de- 
lighted. But  a  spirit  was  in  him  which,  though  it 
was  not  to  be  developed  in  the  form  of  any  glaring- 
enormity,  was  yet  as  essentially  set  on  earth,  and  on 
earth's  things,  as  ever  was  Bunyan's  in  its  darkest 
days.  The  form  which  the  boy's  earthliness  took 
was  ambition — love  of  praise.  That  fire  which 
afterwards  threatened  to  consume  him,  body  and  soul 
at  once,  was  even  now,  at  the  age  of  five  or  six,  send- 
ing forth  its  scintillations.  He  used  to  say  in  his 
boyish  simplicity,  he  would  either  be  a  minister  or  a 
king ;  and  he  would  often  be  asking,  how  long  time 
it  would  take  to  be  a  king,  and  how  long  to  be  a 
minister.  At  times  he  would  mount  a  chair,  and 
with  one  of  his  little  sisters  for  precentor,  and  the 
rest  for  audience,  would  strain  his  every  effort,  and 
often  not  without  success,  to  move  to  tears  by  his 


BOYHOOD.  17 

words.  "I  remember,"  lie  has  been  heard  to  say- 
long  afterwards,  "what  a  wicked  little  creature  I  was ; 
I  got  Jane  to  weep  at  what  I  said ;  I  felt  pleasure  at 
seeing  the  effect  of  my  eloquence." 

In  1825,  after  an  absence  in  England,  chiefly  in 
the  town  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  of  five  or  six 
years,  the  boy  returned  to  Ayrshire,  his  father 
having  been  appointed  parochial  teacher  of  Dal- 
MELLINGTOK.  "  Yon  hill  to  the  north,"  is  his  own 
graceful  pencilling  (to  a  correspondent  in  1840)  of 
that  scene  of  so  many  of  his  after-struggles,  "  which 
terminates  so  abruptly  at  its  eastern  extremity,  runs, 
you  observe,  westward  in  an  undulating  course, 
studded  here  and  there  with  farm  onsteads,  and  capt, 
at  its  highest  point,  with  clouds.  Its  bold  rocky 
front,  which  first  catches  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun, 
was  once  gladdened  with  the  sunlight  of  righteous- 
ness, for  in  the  clefts  of  that  rock  lay  once  concealed 
some  of  the  old  saints  of  the  covenant.  That  ridge 
of  hills,  along  with  this  other  which  you  see  to  the 
south,  and  which  runs  in  a  parallel  direction,  forms  the 
basin  of  the  river  Doon.  The  distance  between  the  two 
ranges  is  here  so  great,  that  between  there  is  a  large  ex- 
tent of  level  ground,  partly  wild,  and  partly  under  cul- 
tivation ;  and  yonder  the  Doon  expands  into  a  lake  of 
the  deepest  blue,  reflecting  from  its  bosom  green  wood- 
land and  purple  heath.  Running  eastward  from  the 
loch,  the  hills. tumble  over  one  another  in  large  and  ir- 
regular masses,  screaming  with  curfew  and  lapwing, 


18  MEMOIR   OF    REV.    W.    H.    HEWITSON. 

and  bubbling  with  brooks  which  have  in  all  direc' 
tions  scooped  for  themselves  channels  in  the  rocky 
declivities.  One  of  these  brooks  is  the  Muck,  which 
hurries  down  its  tiny  waters  till  it  reaches  the  village 
of  Dalmellington — then,  slackening  its  speed  gradual- 
ly, it  is  scarcely  seen  to  move  through  the  level 
country  to  its  place  of  confluence  with  the  Doon. 
Hence  does  the  village  derive  its  name ;  for  Dalmel- 
lington is  a  Gaelic  compound,  signifying,  the  town  of 
the  valley  of  still  waters."  In  this  "town  of  the 
valley  of  still  waters"  was  now  fixed  that  "  parental 
roof,  which  my  heart,"  as  he  himself  writes  in  1832, 
on  one  of  the  earliest  occasions  of  absence  from  it, 
"  tells  me  possesses,  above  every  other,  the  interests 
and  attractions  of  home." 

"Who  is  able,"  asks  Goethe,  in  his  Autobiography, 
"to  speak  worthily  of  the  fulness  of  childhood?" 
"Growth,"  he  adds,  "is  not  always  merely  develop- 
ment :  the  child  is  not  always  the  father  of  the  man. 
And  yet,  though  on  this  account  the  most  ex- 
perienced observer  cannot  certainly,  or  even  prob- 
ably, predict  beforehand  what  direction  the  child 
shall  take,  it  is  easy  afterwards  to  mark  what  has 
pointed  to  a  future."  Hewitson's  now  known  future, 
as  a  natural  man,  has  been  abeady  detected  in  the 
child.  The  same  future  is  seen  indicated  in  the  boy. 
It  manifested  itself,  during  the  years  preceding  1825, 
in  that  appetite  for  desultory  reading  which,  so  often 
mistaken  for  idleness,  is  really  nothing  else  than  the 


BOYHOOD.  19 

instinctive,  thougii  nntutored,  groping  of  an  inquisi- 
tive soul  for  the  food  which  it  craves,  just  as  the 
pent-up  plant  forces  its  way  through  every  open 
crevice  in  quest  of  that  light  whereon  it  so  largely 
lives.  About  the  period  in  question,  however,  his 
readings  took  a  more  systematic  form.  Stimulated 
in  part  by  a  natural  love  of  learning,  and  in  part  by 
the  prospect  of  university  honors,  which  even  thus 
early  began  to  loom  indistinctly  before  him,  and  sus- 
tained by  that  consciousness  of  power  which,  when 
kept  within  due  restraint,  is  the  God-implanted 
spring  of  effort,  he  now  devoted  his  whole  youthful 
energies  to  a  course  of  self-instruction,  which,  to  such 
as  only  know  the  stimulus  of  private  tutorship,  or  of 
a  public  school,  might  seem  almost  incredible. 

"We  first  met,"  writes  one  who  knew  him  then, 
and  on  whose  faithful  sketching  we  shall  have  fre- 
quent occasion  to  draw,*  "  in  1825,  when  I  returned 
to  Dalmellington,  previous  to  going  to  Ayr  academy 
that  year.  Immediately  I  was  much  interested  in  the 
boy.  There  was  something  very  pleasing  in  his 
countenance  and  manners,  and  his  English  accent 
had  great  attractions  for  me.  There  was  altogether  a 
frankness  and  gentlemanly  bearing  about  him  which 
at  once  drew  me  to  him.  He  was  always  much 
given  to  books.  Some  of  my  other  companions  used 
to  laugh  at  him  as  a  book- worm,  and  considered  him 
very  pedantic.  In  1826-7  I  attended  Glasgow  Col- 
*The  Rev.  James  M'Clymont,  Free  Church,  Denhclm, 


20  MEMOIR    OF   KEV.    W.    H.    HEWITSON. 

lege,  and  on  my  return  to  Dalmellington  during  the 
summer  of  1827  his  inquiries  were  innumerable,  in 
our  walks,  about  the  whole  system  of  college  educa- 
tion— the  books  we  had  read  in  Latin  and  Greek — 
the  examinations,  translations,  verses,  &c.  All  this 
was  just  in  order  to  apply  vigorously  and  inde- 
fatigably,  in  private,  to  a  course  of  study  preparatory 
to  going  to  college  himself.  Whatever  assistance  he 
might  at  first  receive  from  his  father,  he  was  a  person 
of  such  an  independent  spirit,  that  he  would  be  in- 
debted to  no  one  for  his  acquirements.  All  he 
wanted  to  know  was,  that  such  and  such  things 
should  be  done ;  and  he  set  himself  in  right  earnest  to 
do  them,  scorning  all  extraneous  aid." 

Hjs  progress  was  quite  remarkable.  In  1828  we 
find  him  engaged  with  Homer,  Cicero,  Horace,  and 
Virgil.  And  in  the  following  year,  in  a  letter  dated 
"  Kal.  Jan.,"  he  writes  to  his  early  friend: — "I  have 
commenced  learning  the  Hebrew  language,  and  am  at 
present  translating  some  of  the  Psalms.  I  am  reading 
Herodotus,  Livy,  the  History  of  Charles  XII.  in  French, 
Porteous'  Lectures,  the  History  of  Greece,  Eollin's 
Ancient  History,  and  I  have  also  begun  to  scale  the 
huge  column  erected  by  Hume  and  SmoUet,  the  His. 
tory  of  England."  No  difficulties  could  damp  his  ar- 
dor in  these  his  self-imposed  duties.  "  During  1828-9," 
continues  the  same  associate  of  his  early  days,  "  he 
translated  difficult  Latin  and  Greek  authors  into  good 
English,  laid  them  past,  and  after  a  time  re-translated 


EARLY    ASPIEATIONS.  21 

them  into  the  original.  Alone  and  unaided,  he  attain- 
ed to  greater  knowledge  and  skill  in  languages  than 
most  boys  do  in  the  best  academies,  with  all  the  help 
of  tutors  and  teachers  of  first-rate  accomphshments. 
There  the  foundation  was  laid  of  his  future  eminence 
as  a  scholar,  and  thinker  for  himself." 

"  Earnestly  and  anxiously  I  wish,"  wrote  Mr.  Hewit- 
son  some  years  afterwards  to  a  lagging  fellow-student, 
"  that  you  would  disentangle  yourself  from  all  impedi- 
ments that  lie  in  the  way  of  your  studies,  and  that  you 
would,  by  vigorous  exertion,  prepare  yourself,  while 
it  is  still  the  time  for  preparation,  for  making  a  dis- 
tinguished appearance  when  you  enter  upon  the  prac- 
tice of  your  profession.  Before  exertion  there  must 
be  energy ;  and  before  you  can  be  stirred  to  energy 
it  is  necessary  for  you  to  '  wake  the  strong  divinity  of 
soul'  that  overcomes  all  the  temptations  to  present 
ease  and  indulgence.  K  you  have  the  velle,  I  am  as- 
sured you  have  the  posse.  It  is  easy  to  intend  and  to 
form  resolutions — the  difficulty  is  to  carry  them  into 
fulfilment ;  and  it  is  this  difficulty  which  puts  into  re- 
quisition the  mind's  strongest  nerve,  and  gives  disci- 
pline to  the  brave  and  pure  energies  of  reason." 
These  words  reflect,  as  in  a  mirror,  the  writer's  own 
inner  life,  during  this  whole  season  of  nature's  wrest- 
lings. That  "strong  divinity  of  soul"  was,  in  him, 
thoroughly  awaked.  True,  it  was  little  better,  when 
viewed  in  God's  own  light,  than  a  mere  noble  ruin, 
like  some  Baalbec  column,  rearing  amidst  surrounding 


22  MEMOIK   OF   REV.    W.    II.   HEWITSOX. 

desolation  its  lofty  and  imposing  sliaft,  at  once  tHe  re- 
membrancer and  the  wreck  of  a  former  glorj.  Still, 
the  "  divinity  of  soul"  was  there.  In  him,  nature  was 
to  know  at  once  her  power  and  her  impotence — ^her 
power  to  discipline  the  "  brave  energies  of  reason," 
but  her  utter  and  hopeless  impotence  to  render  a  God- 
alienated  soul  happy. 

A  parallel  here  presents  itself,  to  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  more  than  once  to  advert — the  brief  but 
brilliant  career  of  Henry  Kirke  White.  The  same 
consuming  ambition,  coupled  with  a  like  devotedness 
to  learning  for  its  own  sake,  animated  the  two  boys, 
and  carried  them  through  difficulties  in  their  earlier 
course  by  which  ordinary  minds  would  have  been 
crushed.  Hewitson,  indeed,  had  made  attainments  in 
classics,  previous  to  entering  the  university,  compared 
with  which  White's  were  trivial.  But  both  hastened 
forward  to  the  scene  of  expected  triumphs,  not  doubt- 
ing that  the  shadow  they  were  pursuing  would  fill 
their  vacant  hearts. 

The  parallel  of  Kirke  White  suggests  another  mark- 
ed characteristic  of  young  Hewitson,  which  we  must 
notice  ere  we  leave  these  his  boyish  days.  Both  alike 
shrank  with  intensest  sensitiveness  from  even  the  sem- 
blance of  untruthfulness,  and  that  not  merely  in  speech, 
but  in  action.  Their  whole  life  was  one  undimmed 
transparency.  And  in  one  special  feature,  the  paral- 
lelism was  most  striking.  Kirke  White,  though,  like 
Hewitson,  with  the  ministry  in  prospect  from  his  ear- 


COLLEGE   LIFE.  23 

liest  years,  used  to  declare  that  he  never  would  enter 
it  unless  he  should  previously  be  converted — such  was 
his  thorough  natural  loathing  of  hypocrisy,  for  beyond 
this  mere  natural  feeling  he  was  at  the  time  incapable 
of  penetrating.  "  Even  in  his  walks  with  me  as  a  boy," 
writes  He witson's  early  friend,  "he  showed  the  lofti 
ness  and  purity  of  his  aims,  in  declaring  to  me  that  he 
never  would  be  a  minister  unless  he  were  first  a 
Christian ;  and  by  '  a  Christian'  he  meant,  thus  early, 
not  professing  religion,  but  being  ji  converted  man — a 
new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  scorned  the  mock- 
ery of  setting  up  to  preach  what  he  did  not  thorough- 
ly believe,  and  feel,  and  live  upon,  himself.  Of  every- 
thing that  had  the  shadow  of  untruthfulness,  he  had 
the  most  perfect  abhorrence.  Everything  must  be  re- 
ality with  him,  without  and  within.  You  saw  just 
what  he  was." 

The  youthful  aspirant  now  entered  college.  Detain- 
ed in  his  distant  retreat  year  after  year  by  feeble  health, 
but  at  length  so  greatly  invigorated  as  to  have  been 
able,  during  the  six  or  eight  months  immediately  pre- 
ceding,' to  fill  a  temporary  vacancy  in  the  assistant- 
mastership  of  a  commercial  academy  in  Castle-Douglas, 
he  reached  the  scene  of  his  long-cherished  ambition 
only  in  November,  1833.  That  scene  was  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh.  In  its  Senior  Humanity  Class, 
there  commonly  meet,  in  competition  for  the  gold 
medal  annually  awarded  to  the  best  Latin  scholar  by 
the  Society  of  "Writers  to  the  Signet,  all  the  more  dis- 


24  MEMOIE   OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON". 

tinguished  alumni  of  the  two  great  Edinburgh  schools, 
as  well  as  many  from  other  quarters  both  in  Scotland 
and  in  England.  As  it  is  usual  for  these  to  remain 
two  years,  there  thus  assemble  each  year  on  the  field 
of  conflict  two  successive  arrays  of  tested  scholarship. 
On  this  trying  arena  the  rustic  youth  appeared.  So 
new  was  the  whole  scene  to  him,  and  so  untried  his 
weapons,  that  only  the  urgent  representations  of  the 
professor,  guided  by  the  result  of  a  brief  examination, 
dissuaded  him  from  his  previously  formed  resolution 
of  joining  the  junior  class.  But  scarcely  had  he  entered 
the  lists  when  it  speedily  became  apparent  that  the 
self-taught  country  lad  would  have  few  compeers.  The 
competition,  begun  by  a  selection  of  five  candidates,  by 
the  votes  of  the  class,  is  conducted  by  written  exam- 
inations. On  the  vote  being  taken  in  the  class  towards 
the  close  of  the  session,  he  was  placed,  by  a  poll  of 
139,  at  the  top  of  the  list  of  competitors — the  second 
being  a  highly  accomplished  English  student,  Mr. 
Charles  Morrison,  son  of  James  Morrison,  Esq.,  M.P., 
of  Fonthill  Abbey,  who  had  already  attended  the  class 
for  no  fewer  than  three  sessions.  The  examination 
now  proceeded.  Betwixt  these  two — for  all  the  rest, 
though  including  several  duxes  of  the  public  schools, 
were  left  far  in  the  rear — there  was  an  intense  struggle. 
"The  first  examination,"  writes  his  early  associate, 
who  that  year  lodged  in  the  same  rooms  with  him, 
"  passed  over,  and  they  were  pronounced  equal — the 
professor  could  not  decide  betwixt  them.    A  second 


COLLEGE   LIFE.  25 

examination  was  instituted.  William  came  home  from 
it  to  our  room  in  anxiety.  During  tlie  evening  his 
mind  had  been  going  over  all  the  exercises,  and  he  sud- 
denly exclaimed  that  he  had  made  a  mistake  and  lost 
the  prize.  But  though  he  gave  it  up  at  once,  he  said 
the  professor  should  know,  before  he  entered  the  class 
to  announce  his  rival's  victory,  that  he  knew  his  only 
mistake  as  well  as  the  professor  himself.  He  wrote  a 
note,  correcting  the  blunder,  but  acknowledging  that 
it  was  now  too  late.  The  professor's  announcement  of 
the  decision  was  accompanied  by  the  note,  and  though 
the  medal  was  lost  that  year,  the  students  themselves 
made  it  up  by  a  subscription  to  purchase  the  '  Attic 
Orators'  for  him,  which  equalled  in  value  the  lost 
prize."  The  next  session  he  again,  at  the  professor's 
solicitation,  engaged  in  the  contest,  and  came  o^  facile 
princeps.  And  on  the  morning  of  31st  March,  1835, 
as  the  gold  medal  was  hung  around  his  neck  ia  the 
presence  of  the  assembled  students,  he  was,  with  an 
enthusiasm  almost  unparalleled,  hailed  the  first  man 
of  his  year.  Nor  was  it  only  in  classics  that  he  thus 
easily  bore  off  the  palm.  In  the  Logic  class,  the  same 
session,  he  no  less  easily  conquered,  on  a  field  of  forty 
competitors. 

"  Were  I  to  paint,"  said  Kirke  White  to  an  intimate 
friend,  after  a  similar  triumph  at  Cambridge,  "  a  pic- 
ture of  Fame,  crowning  a  distinguished  under-graduate 
after  the  senate-house  examination,  I  would  represent 
her  as  concealing  a  death's-head  under  a  mask  of 


26  MEMOIR    OF   KEV.    W.    11.    HEWITSO^T. 

beauty."  The  Cambridge  wrangler  had  come  to  the 
scene  of  his  conflict  with  the  seeds  of  death  already 
sown  in  him  through  protracted  hours  of  study,*  and 
had  found  (writes  his  biographer),  in  the  place  to  which 
he  had  so  long  looked  forward  with  hope,  "  only  a 
hot-bed  to  ripen  them."  That  light,  which  had  shone 
so  brightly,  went  out  in  sudden  darkness.  The  hon- 
ors won  by  Hewitson  had  nearly  proved  as  fatal.  The 
studies  of  these  two  winters  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
disease  which  ultimately  cut  him  off.  "  His  study," 
says  his  college  associate,  "was  intensely  eager — his 
application  prodigious.  Night  could  scarcely  stop  him 
above  a  very  few  hours.  He  seldom,  I  believe,  retired 
to  rest  before  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
rose  again  by  seven  or  eight.  Eemonstrance  with  him 
was  vain.  He  evidently  injured  his  health  the  very 
first  winter.  I  remember  well  the  feeling  of  anxiety 
I  had  about  him,  as  he  came  in  from  his  classes,  pale 
and  exhausted,  laying  his  hand  upon  his  breast,  and 
drawing  a  long  breath  with  evident  pain."  Such  was 
the  fruit  he  had  of  those  things  whereof  he  was  soon 
to  be  ashamed. 

Prize-men  are  often  barren,  stunted,  mechanical. 
The  mind,  instead  of  being  trained  into  that  vigorous 

*  He  would  study  till  one,  two,  or  three  in  the  morning,  and  then 
be  awoke  by  an  alarum  at  five.  In  a  clever  jeu-d' esprit,  lately  pub- 
lished in  Germany,  entitled  the  "  Dance  of  Death,"  there  is  given, 
among  other  scenes  of  the  destroyer's  triumph,  one  representing  a  stu- 
dent with  his  midnight  lamp,  and  behind  him  the  hideous  shape  grinning 
complacently  over  his  victim. 


COLLEGE  LIFE.  27 

tone  whicli  shall  fit  it  for  future  conquests,  is  render- 
ed feeble  and  ineffective.  This  is  not  education :  it  is 
the  twisting  of  the  sapling  into  the  soil,  of  which 

"  The  scarr'd  and  crooked  oak  will  tell  for  centuries  to  come." 

Hewitson  was  a  prize-man  of  another  stamp.  He 
was  a  thinker,  not  a  mere  plodding  drudge.  "The 
mind,"  it  has  been  said,  "  is  made  wealthy  by  ideas, 
but  the  multitude  of  words  is  a  clogging  weight."  This 
great  maxim  was  before  him  in  all  his  studies.  And 
the  result  was  a  precision — a  mental  self-reliance — a 
steady  reflectiveness,  which  enabled  him  to  grasp 
every  theme  he  handled,  dealing  with  it,  not  as  a  chUd, 
but  as  a  man. 

Even  in  his  classics,  his  great  aim  was  to  "  reap  the 
wisdom  of  books."  His  essays  on  the  poetry  of 
Horace,  Pindar,  and  ^schylus — the  last  written  in 
Greek — indicate  a  mind  wealthy,  not  in  words,  but  in 
thoughts,  and  these  no  common  thoughts.  For  meta- 
physical speculation  also,  he  early  imbibed  a  taste  re- 
tained by  him  to  the  last.  "  It  exhibits,"  was  the 
judgment  pronounced  upon  one  of  his  essays  by  the 
late  Dr.  Welsh,  than  whom  few  men  were  more  com- 
petent to  speak  authoritatively  on  such  a  subject,  or 
more  cautious  in  awarding  praise,  "  as  continuous  and 
striking  a  train  of  self-thinking  as  I  have  ever  come 
into  contact  with."  His  mind  was  characterized,  per- 
haps, by  fineness — subtle  acumen — rather  than  by  co- 
lossal strength.     But  in  correct  discrimination  of  men- 


28  MEMOIR  OF  EEY.   ^Y.   H.   HEWITSON, 

tal  states  and  habitudes,  and  generally  in  an  exact  ap- 
preciation of  tlie  precise  value  of  the  various  elements 
in  any  complex  question,  lie  possessed  a  rare  skill.  A. 
single  specimen  is  given  below.* 

Nor  was  he  without  that  "  eye  in  fine  frenzy  roll- 
ing," which,  had  it  been  educated  steadily,  might  have 
made  him  no  mean  poetic  interpreter  of  nature.  His 
papers  discover  not  a  few  projected  efforts  in  this  di- 
rection— among  others,  the  partly  executed  frame- 
work of  an  epic  poem.  But  his  desire  was,  that  none 
of  these  poetical  productions  should  see  the  light ;  and 
that  desire  we  hold  sacred. 

*  "  Imagination  :  What  is  it  ? — The  mind's  energy  in  discovering  in 
one  object  of  thought  the  image  of  another — in  external  things  and 
processes  the  images  or  types  of  mental  energies  and  operations — in 
all  earthly  things,  material  or  spiritual,  the  images  or  shadows  of 
heavenly  things — in  all  the  truths  of  physical  and  intellectual  science, 
a  reflection  of  the  features  of  God's  character.  How  does  imagination 
promote  the  studies  of  the  philosopher  ? — By  suggesting  hypotheses 
from  analogy — that  is,  arising  from  the  discovery  of  an  image  of  things 
known  in  things  uncertain, — which  hypotheses,  being  subjected  to  ob- 
servational and  experimental  test,  are  verified,  or,  being  proved  false, 
repudiated.  How  does  imagination  avail  for  the  production  of  poetic 
ecstacies  ? — By  exhibiting  the  family  likenesses,  as  it  were,  wliich  per- 
vade all  the  objects  of  the  universe, — by  sounding  in  the  soul's  fine  ear 
the  synchronism  or  harmony  of  all  the  silent  melodies  of  things.  Im- 
agination finds  in  the  combinations  of  materialism  images  of  thought 
and  feeling,  and  thus  gives  vividness  and  animation  to  nature's  forms, 
and  converts  them  into  objects  of  human  sympathy :  it  finds  in  the  dark 
struggling  of  emotion,  and  the  dark  intricacies  of  thought,  the  clear 
bright  images  of  outward  things,  and  thus  enlightens  and  illustrates 
what  is  dark,  gives  form  and  color  to  what  is  fugitive  and  evanescent, 
in  the  shining  spirit, — and,  by  opening  up  to  us  clear  visions  of  a  friend- 
ly soul,  quickens  and  invigorates  our  social  sympathies  and  loves. 
Why  does  an  idea  of  imagination  afford  pleasure? — Because  the  uu- 
age  in  which  it  cona-sts  is  either  beautiful  or  sublimo.     The  beautiful 


COLLEGE   LIFE.  29 

But  one  culminating  e£fort  of  the  ambitious  student 
remains  to  be  noticed.  After  having  completed,  in 
April,  1837,  his  University  course  of  Arts,  he,  instead 
of  immediately  entering  the  Divinity  Hall,  went  with 
a  family  in  the  capacity  of  private  tutor,  to  Leaming- 
ton, where  he  spent  the  winter.  That  winter  was  a 
momentous  era  in  his  life.  It  witnessed  at  once  the 
ascending  smoke  of  the  most  grateful  incense  which 
self  had  yet  offered  at  Fame's  golden  altar,  and  the 
rude  dashing  by  a  gracious  God  of  the  censer  from  the 

is  the  shadow  of  God's  loveliness;  the  sublime  is  the  shadow  of  God's 
majesty.  But  what  is  God's  loveliness  1 — Either,  generally,  the  har- 
monious union  and  agency  of  all  His  attributes,  or,  particularly,  the 
harmony  of  each  of  His  creative  conceptions,  and  of  His  universal  crea- 
tive plan.  What  is  God's  majesty  ? — The  greatness,  exceeding  thought, 
of  any  one  of  His  attributes,  viewed  apart  from  the  rest ;  or  the  great- 
ness, exceeding  tJiought,  of  His  whole  character  and  being,  considered 
as  an  indivisible  whole.  Imagination  pleases  by  discovering  a  secret 
harmony,  or  ravishes  by  bodying  forth  an  idea  of  greatness.  Is  the  im- 
aginative energy,  then,  in  metaphysical  truth,  creative  ? — By  no  means  ; 
its  object  and  its  act  is  the  discovery  of  a  harmony  established  by  Him 
who  alone  is  Creator.  Why  is  man  endowed  with  imagination — why 
made  susceptible  of  poetic  rapture? — That  he  may  discover  God  in  all 
things. — God's  image  in  his  own  soul,  God's  image  in  the  hosts  of 
heaven,  God's  image  in  the  creations  of  earth,  God's  greatness  in  all 
that  is  great,  God's  loveliness  in  all  that  is  lovely,  God's  glory  in  all 
that  is  glorious.  That  poetry  is  most  worthy  of  the  name,  because 
most  true  to  nature,  in  which  imagination  has  fulfilled  its  destiny." 

"  Philosophy,  as  distinguished  from  poetry,  discovers  the  various  or- 
ders of  God's  creatures,  and  generalizes  God's  mode  of  action,  whether 
in  the  astronomy  of  the  heavens,  or  the  physics  of  earthly  materialism, 
or  the  psychology  of  spiritual  being.  Poetry,  as  distinguished  from 
philosophy,  discovers  in  one  object  the  reflection  of  another,  and  in 
every  object  alone,  and  all  objects  as  a  whole,  the  reflection  of  God. 
The  philosopher  coolly  reduces  his  generalities  to  system ;  tlie  poet, 
with  '  eye  in  fine  frenzy  rolling,'  beholds  harmonies,  over  which  hia 
heart  burns  with  rapture,  and  pours  forth  the  flood  of  song." 


30  MEMOIR  OF   REV.    W.   11.   HEWITSON. 

offerer's  hand.  There  had  been  proposed,  in  the  pre- 
ceding spring,  a  University  prize,  open  to  all  students, 
for  an  essay  "  on  the  Nature,  Causes,  and  Effects  of 
National  Character."  This  had  stirred  once  more  his 
old  ambition.  He  wrote  the  essay ;  and  on  27th  De- 
cember, 1837,  the  Senatus  Academicus  adjudged  to 
him  the  prize.  In  the  following  January,  the  essay 
was  read  in  presence  of  the  whole  professors  and  stu- 
dents. "I  well  remember,"  writes  the  Eev.  James 
Dodds,  "  the  first  two  occasions  on  which  I  saw  one 
who  afterwards  became  my  dear  and  intimate  friend. 
When  Mr.  Hewitson  received  that  distinguished  hon- 
or, the  gold  medal  in  the  Humanity  class,  I  was  pres- 
ent in  the  class-room  as  an  interested  and  admiring 
spectator.  Though  I  had  heard  not  a  little  of  his 
scholarship,  it  was  only  then  that  I  saw  him  for  the 
first  time.  I  was  struck  with  the  dehcacy  and  severe 
application  to  study  indicated  by  his  slender  and 
slightly  bent  form,  his  pale  and  somewhat  wasted 
countenance,  and  the  fine  but  ominous  brilliancy  of 
his  eye.  His  character  among  his  fellow-students  for 
talent  and  acquirements,  for  energy  of  mind,  and  a 
certain  severe  dignity  of  deportment,  stood  very  high ; 
and  by  general  consent,  he  was  set  down  as  the  most 
promising  student  of  his  year.  The  next  time  I  saw 
him  was  when  he  read  in  public  his  essay  on  '  Nation- 
al Character, '  which  gained  the  prize  open  to  all  the 
students  of  the  University.  Along  with  all  present,  I 
listened  with  pleasure  and  admiration  to  a  production 


COLLEGE   LIFE.  31 

which,  for  acuteness  of  analysis,  power  of  generaliza- 
tion, force  and  precision  of  language,  and,  above  all, 
for  a  lofty  tone  of  moral  sentiment,  struck  me  as  far 
superior  to  the  ordinary  run  of  prize  essays.  The  ap- 
plause bestowed  upon  it  was  ample  and  well-deserved, 
more  than  sufficient  to  feed  and  inflame  the  literary 
ambition  of  a  less  aspiring  mind  than  that  of  Mr.  Hew- 
itson.  A  friend  and  fellow-student  sitting  next  to 
me,  whom  I  may  name,  Mr.  James  Hamilton,  now 
Dr.  Hamilton  of  Eegent  Square  Church,  London,  at 
that  time  unacquainted  with  Mr.  Hewitson,  as  well  as 
myself,  but  afterwards  his  loved  and  valued  friend — 
exclaimed,  when  the  reading  of  the  essay  was  finished, 
'What  a  fine  sense  he  has  of  the  sublime!'  This  re- 
mark struck  me  at  the  time,  and  afterwards  I  had  fre- 
quent opportunities  of  perceiving  its  truth.  In  mat- 
ters of  literature,  and  in  things  concerning  Divine 
truth,  my  friend  uniformly  showed  a  delicate  percep- 
tion of  the  beautiful  and  the  pure,  of  the  lofty  and  the 
noble,  of  the  exalted  in  sentiment,  and  the  generous 
in  character,  which  I  have  seldom  found  in  other  men, 
and  which  I  have  always  considered  a  leading  feature 
of  his  mind." 

The  essay  was  a  noble  production,  embodying  in 
one  masterly  work  the  accumulated  resources  of  his 
entire  past  studies.  Professor  "Wilson,  among  others, 
anxiously  pressed  its  publication ;  and  not  long  ago, 
no  proposal  could  have  been  more  grateful.  But 
now — all  is  chanored. 


S2  -MEMOIR    on    REV.    W.    H.    HEWITSOX. 

"I  obtained  my  higliest  wishes,"  writes  Henry  Mar- 
tyn,  on  being  crowned  with  the  Academic  laurel, 
"but  was  surprised  to  find  that  I  had  grasped  a  shad- 
ow." Not  less,  but  even  more  withering,  was  the  ex- 
perience of  Wilham  Ilewitson.  lie  had  grasped,  not 
a  shadow,  but  a  stinging  serpent.  "  Ambition,"  we 
find  him  writing,  "  is  a  devil — and  public  praise  is  a 
syren,  which  soothes  while  it  destroys."  Hitherto 
that  devil — that  syren — had  been  leading  him  captive 
at  its  will.  Let  his  own  graphic  pen  portray  the 
scene.  "  I  was  burning,"  are  his  words,  as,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1840,  from  the  refuge  into  which  he  had  by  this 
time  fled,  he  looks  back  on  his  "first  academic  cam- 
paign"— "  I  was  burning  to  enter  the  arena  of  learned 
competition,  and  thought  life  without  fame  not  worth 
the  having.  For  a  while  the  demon  of  ambition  was 
lord  of  the  ascendant,  and  baleful  was  the  influ- 
ence which  it  shed  upon  my  character  :  it  was  work- 
ing so  effectively  the  ruin  of  my  soul,  that  Satan  ceased 
to  harass  me  with  fears,  as  he  had  done  for  years  be- 
fore :  he  deemed  it  then  his  most  subtle  policy  to  lay 
to  my  soul  a  flattering  unction,  and,  with  the  bland 
flapping  of  a  vampire's  wings,  to  lull  me  into  perfect 
security.  He  succeeded  in  his  stratagem  for  a  while  ; 
and,  but  for  the  interposition  of  a  gracious  Providence, 
he  had  accomplished  my  final  destruction." 

"  My  internal  history,"  he  again  writes — and  the 
words  are  written  on  the  very  scene  of  desolation, 
"  may  be  generalized  by  the  remark,  that,  around  my 


COLLEGE   LIFE.  38 

heart's  fixed  centre,  there  has  been  reyolving  in  pano- 
rama a  wide  circumference  of  change.  The  antnmnal 
leaves  are  novr  sere  and  sallow ;  they  telL  vnth  pro- 
phetic significancy,  of  the  bhght  and  shrunkenness  of 
youthfiil  hopes ; — ^the  wind  is  now  passing  with  fitfal 
and  melancholy  howl ;  so,  too,  there  is  a  stir  and  a 
rush,  as  it  were,  of  winds  in  the  atmosphere  of  the 
sonl ;  there  are,  as  it  were,  sighings  around  the  door- 
ways of  the  heart."' 

Xo  words  can  tell  the  misery  of  that  now  vacant 
and  aching  heart.  "The  stricken  warrior,"  it  has 
been  written,  "is  glad  that  his  wounds  are  salved 
with  glory.''  Xot  so  this  stricken  warrior.  The  glory 
he  has  won  on  the  academical  arena  is  not  a  salve,  bnt 
a  "  centaur's  maddening  timic.''  A  pang  more  appal- 
ling than  mere  felt  emptiness  now  rends  him.  The 
pang  is  twofold. 

His  own  personal  eternity  trembles  in  the  balance. 
"  The  darkening  of  the  understanding !"  he  writes  at 
this  period  to  his  early  associate — "  the  influx  of  un- 
holv  thoughts  that  come  uncalled,  and  fill  the  soul 
Avith  horror — the  difficulty  of  realizing  ideas  of  Grod's 
presence  and  holy  character — ^the  agitation  of  doubts 
and  fears,  and  darkness,  and  of  a  heart  that  seems  to 
grieve  for  sin,  but  vet  is  so  hard  that  its  grief  looks 
not  like  the  grief  of  repentance  !  and  then  the  prayer 
of  that  hard  heart — the  unprofitable  prayer — and  the 
grief  that  it  has  been  unprofitable !     Can  you  form  any 

2* 


34  MEMOIR   OF  KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOIST. 

idea  of  that  condition  ?     Such  a  state  resembles  a  state 
of  madness  or  of  demoniacal  possession." 

And  now,  scarcely  less  intense  is  his  soul's  agony,  as 
another  question  arises,  demanding  solution.  "  Since 
the  third  year  of  my  life,"  he  writes  in  the  same  letter, 
"my  thoughts  have  been  directed,  through  the  dark- 
ness of  futurity  in  the  same  straight  and  unchanging 
channel,  invariably  to  the  attainment  of  that  object  of 
noblest  ambition,  the  ministry  of  the  gospel.  That  is 
the  grand  object  of  my  existence — the  motive  of  all 
my  exertions — identified  with  all  my  hopes  and  fears — 
the  centre  of  my  very  soul.  If  it  be  not  gained,  a 
dark  cloud  will  settle  all  around  my  path — a  blight- 
ing chill  will  benumb  all  my  faculties,  and  make  me 
useless  to  myself  and  others."  And  what  is  it  that 
now  creates  the  alarm  ?  Let  his  own  words  tell.  "  If 
IT  he  not  gained!  So  far  as  the  attainment  of  it  is  a 
matter  of  secular  interest,  I  should  have  no  cause  to 
despair.  But  so  far — and  this  is  the  great  considera- 
tion— so  far  as  the  success  of  my  ambition  is  connect- 
ed with  God  and  heavenly  things,  I  cannot  say  that  I 
look  on  the  achievement  of  it  without  frequent  de- 
spondency. To  become  a  minister  of  Christ !  that  pre- 
supposes the  having  become  a  disciple  of  Christ,  and 
like  Him  in  the  holiness  of  a  regenerated  heart  and  sanc- 
tified imagination.  God  alone  can  give  the  spirit  of 
discipleship,  and  resemblance  to  Christ,  and  He  tvill 
give  it  to  those  only  who  believe." 

The  twofold  pang  is  almost  more  than  he  can  bear. 


COLLEGE   LIFE.  85 

"  How  miserable  a  state  of  mind,"  lie  exclaims  out  of 
the  depth  of  his  harrowed  bosom,  "is  that,  in  which 
sorrow,  hke  a  heavy  load,  weighs  and  weighs  upon 
the  heart,  and  tries  to  find  relief  in  tears,  but  cannot 
find  it !  How  miserable  above  all  that  is  most  miser- 
able, to  wish  that  the  heart  was  full  of  love  towards 
its  God  and  Saviour,  and,  after  all,  to  feel  that  it  is  as 
cold  as  ice,  and  as  hard  as  adamant  I" 

Such,  Nature !  is  thy  blank  helplessness  in  meeting 
the  wants  of  the  human  soul.  Like  another  Marius 
sitting  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  thy  votary  is  left 
by  thee  a  poverty-stricken  castaway  even  on  the  very 
scene  of  his  most  splendid  triumphs. 

But  nature's  castaway  the  gracious  Lord  is  now  to 
take  up.  The  "prodigal,"  "come  to  himself,"  is  to 
be  welcomed  home. 


CHAPTER  II. 

1837-1840. 

The  Religionist  and  the  Christian — Setting  Out — Twilight  Gropings 
— Literary  Tastes^— The  Unknown  God — The  Crisis. 

There  is  a  vast  and  vital  dilBference  betwixt  the 
Christian  and  the  mere  religionist,  though  the  two 
are  so  often  confounded.  Each  revolves  round  his 
own  centre.  The  religionist's  centre  is  self;  hence 
his  cheerless  gloom.  The  Christian's  centre  is  Christ ; 
hence  his  light  and  genial  warmth.  In  these  two  cir- 
cles Mr.  Hewitson  successively  moved. 

"The  Christian  pilgrim,"  says  Coleridge,  "sets  out 
in  the  morning  twilight,  while  yet  the  truth  {vofiog  li- 
Xeiog  6  i^f  iXsvdsQtag'^')  is  below  the  horizon."  It  was 
at  the  commencement  of  the  epoch  embraced  in  this 
chapter  that  our  pilgrim  set  out. 

The  most  trivial  incidents  often  decide  the  life. 
One  day,  as  Napoleon  was  crossing  the  Alps  on  his 
march  to  Italy,  his  foot  suddenly  slipped  on  the 
edge  of  a  tremendous  chasm, — death  seemed  inevi- 
tablcj — at  the  critical  moment  his  personal  attendant 

*  "The  perfect  law  of  liberty." 


THE   SETTING   OUT.  37 

caught  liim  by  the  skirt  of  his  coat — Napoleon  was 
saved.  Hoav  trivial  the  incident,  yet  what  results! 
Bunyan,  in  one  of  his  visits  to  Bedford  in  pursuit  of 
his  calling  as  a  tinker,  marked  three  poor  women  on 
a  door-way  engaged  in  earnest  converse.  Slackening 
his  pace  as  he  neared  them,  he  overheard  a  discourse 
Avhich  arrested  his  whole  soul.  The  discourse  was  on 
the  new  birth,  the  hidden  life,  the  heart's  awful  de- 
pravity, the  amazing  grace  of  God ;  and  withal  there 
was  written  on  the  pilgrims'  countenances  a  calm, 
chastened  gladness,  which  told  the  formalist  there  was 
a  secret  in  the  Christian  life  which  he  did  not  know. 
To  that  trivial  incident  Bunyan  owed  his  all.  An  in- 
cident in  itself  not  less  trivial  presented  to  Mr.  He  wit- 
son  the  *'  living  epistle"  which  was  to  startle  him  into 
the  pilgrim-path. 

The  incident  we  find  narrated  by  himself,  six  years 
afterwards,  thus: — 

"At  Leamington,  in  the  month  of  November,  183*7,  I  hap- 
pened one  day  to  turn  up  to  the  mineral  spring.  A  young  man 
entered  the  building,  whose  appearance  at  once  attracted  my 
observation ;  his  coarse  linen  frock  contrasted  with  the  gay  ap- 
parel of  the  groups  before  me.  He  was  emaciated,  and  walked 
forward  with  a  feeble  step.  After  drinking  of  the  water  out  of 
a  vessel  of  earthenware,  which  was  placed  beside  a  number  of 
tumblers,  he,  without  having  apparently  observed  any  one, 
again  slowly  withdrew.  After  a  little,  I  began  to  descend  the 
hill,  in  the  middle  of  which  the  spring  was  situated,  and  found 
the  young  man  sitting  at  one  of  the  bends  of  the  winding-path 
which  slopes  gently  down  the  declivity.  I  spoke  to  him.  His 
diffident  tone  of  voice  and  his  modestv  of  manner  at  once  enlist- 


88  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

ed  my  sympathies.  During  several  weeks  afterwards  I  fre- 
quently visited  his  father's  lowly  cottage.  My  intercourse 
with  the  young  man  soon  gave  me  ground  to  conclude,  that,  if 
my  theoretic  knowledge  of  gospel  truths  was  greater  than  his, 
he,  unlike  myself,  had  experienced  their  sanctifying  power. 
Truly  his  was  the  better  portion.  When  he  spoke  of  the 
Saviour's  love  to  sinners,  and  His  obedience  unto  death  for  their 
redemption,  he  at  times  gave  vent  to  his  gratitude  by  tears  of 
joy.  Pointing  to  his  clothes,  on  one  occasion,  he  said,  address- 
ing his  father,  'These  will  be  no  more  needed:  I  wish  you  to 
sell  them ;  the  price  of  them  will  be  enough  to  pay  for  my 
coffin.'  He  seemed  like  one  who  had  obtained  'everlasting 
consolation  and  good  hope  through  grace' — to  have  not  a  shad- 
ow of  doubt  or  anxiety  on  his  soul  as  to  the  prospect  of  eternal 
glory.     One  evening,  about  sunset,  he  fell  asleep." 

The  student  was  stricken  by  the  arrow  of  God. 
That  peasant,  he  felt,  had  been  tutored  in  a  school  to 
whose  lessons  he  was  as  yet  himself  a  stranger.  The 
question  flashed  on  him,  "  Could  /  thus  calmly  pass 
into  the  immediate  presence  of  the  holy  and  just 
Jehovah?  Am  I,  like  him,  sheltered  from  the 
terrors  of  'the  wrath  to  come?'"  The  question,  too 
plain  to  be  evaded,  and  too  urgent  to  be  postponed, 
constrained  the  earnest  inquiry,  "  "What  must  I  do  to 
be  saved?"  The  sentences  quoted  at  the  close  of  the 
preceding  chapter  reveal  the  misery  of  his  now  tem- 
pest-shaken spirit.   Their  date  is  23d  November,  1837. 

The  twilight  gropings  were  not  soon  ended. 

"To  Rev.  J,  M'Clymont. — Malvern,  September  14, 1838. — 
.  ,  .  There  is  a  weather  of  the  soul,  diversified  as  variously  in 
its  phenomena  as  is  the  external  atmosphere  by  meteorological 


TWILIGHT  GROPINGS.  39 

changes  ;  and  there  are  states  of  mind  incident  to  my  charac- 
ter, which  being  accompanied  with  irrepressible  melancholy, 
and  a  feeling  of  wretchedness,  utterly  disqualify  me  for  any 
other  sort  of  exertion  than  that  which  a  sense  of  duty  renders 
indispensable.  In  such  states  of  feeling,  I  never  can,  without 
the  greatest  difficulty,  prevail  on  myself  to  write  a  letter,  even 

though  there  be  urgent  occasion At  such  seasons  I  doubt 

of  my  being  ever  capable  of  undertaking  the  ministrations  of 
the  gospel ;  but  God  dispose  of  me  for  time  and  for  eternity  so 
as  most  to  show  forth  His  glory ;  if  it  be  His  dispensation  that 
I  am  to  be  a  minister  of  Christ,  blessed  be  His  name !  if  He 
disposes  of  me  otherwise,  His  will  be  done." 

"  To  J.  LoFTUs  Marsden,  Esq.,  M.D. — Dalmellington,  Oc- 
tober 11,  1838. — The  period  of  my  sojourn  in  England  is  past; 
and,  now  released  from  every  kind  of  engagement,  I  am  once 
more  occupying  a  place  in  the  family  circle  of  Dalmellington. 
Having  left  Malvern  early  on  Monday  morning  of  last  week,  I 
reached  "Worcester  before  eight  o'clock.  I  strained  my  eyes  in 
the  direction  of  Kempsey,  if  perchance  I  might  discover  some 
object  in  it  round  which  I  might  assemble  the  recollections  of 
happy  hours  spent  with  your  family,  as  well  as  the  valedictory 
feelings  of  the  moment ;  but,  like  the  scenes  of  untried  futurity, 

all  was  buried  in  haze  and  darkness By  the  stage-coach 

I  reached  Liverpool,  sailed  from  that  to  Glasgow,  and  reached 
Dalmellington  on  Friday.     I  have  three  or  four  weeks  to  spetid 

at  home I  now  resume  my  own  studies  at  Edinburgh. 

My  curriculum  is  too  long  a  one  to  admit  the  sacrifice  of  a 

session That  friendship  may  be  indestructible,  it  must 

needs  be  founded  on  an  indestructible  basis  ;  not  on  the  physi- 
cal sympathies  of  convivial  excess,  but  on  the  congenialities  and 
the  pleasures  of  intellectual  and  religious  intercourse.  The 
hours  when  such  congenialities  were  developed,  and  such  pleas- 
ures enjoyed,  are  those  on  which  the  mind  loves  most  to  an- 
chor its  memories." 

In  November,  after  having,  the  previous  winter,  en- 


40  MlialOIR  OP  REV.   W.   II.   IIEWITSON. 

rolled  as  an  irregular  and  non-resident  student,  be  en- 
tered the  Divinity  Hall  of  Edinburgh,  then  presided 
over  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  and  formally  commenced  his 
tlieological  studies. 

"It  was  towards  the  close  of  1838,"  writes  Mr. 
Dodds,  "that  I  first  became  acquainted  with  Mr, 
Hewitson ;  and  from  that  period  dates  a  friendship  on 
which  I  look  back  as  on  one  of  my  greatest  earthly 
blessings.  We  were  first  introduced  to  each  other  at 
a  meeting  of  a  'preaching  society,'  of  which  we  were 
both  members.  I  had  been  a  member  for  some  years ; 
he  had  just  entered.  "When  called  upon  to  give  his 
opinion  of  the  discourse  which  had  been  dehvered  by 
one  of  our  fellow-members,  he  rose,  and  with  some 
hesitation  of  manner,  yet  with  real  confidence  in  his 
powers,  uttered  a  criticism  distinguished  for  great  fe- 
licity of  language,  and  a  rare  acquaintance  with  the 
Scriptures.  I  saw  at  once  that  his  scholarship  had  al- 
ready been  largely  exercised  in  the  study  of  the 
Greek  Testament,  and  that  the  "Word  of  God  by  that 
time  had  become  the  subject  of  his  earnest  and  as- 
siduous examination.  I  was  struck  also  with  his  un- 
common command  of  elegant  and  classic  language, 
which  a  slight  hesitancy  of  utterance  did  not  percepti- 
bly impede. 

"In  the  course  of  a  long  walk  and  conversation 
which  we  had  together,  when  the  meeting  of  the  so- 
ciety was  over,  I  got  a  view  of  his  mind  and  charac- 
ter which  won  my  affection  and  admiration.     He  was 


LITEEARY   TASTES.  41 

full  of  literary  enthusiasm;  lie  talked  like  a  scholar 
of  the  Greek  and  Eoman  classics ;  yet  he  seemed  ar- 
dently devoted  to  his  theological  studies,  which  he 
was  then  pursuing  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Chalmers 
and  Dr.  Welsh.  I  could  easily  see  that  he  had  a 
strong  consciousness  of  mental  power,  a  decisiveness 
in  the  formation  and  expression  of  his  opinions,  and 
a  lofty  scorn  of  what  was  low-toned  in  feeling  or  in 
conduct,  which  might  well  wear  an  aspect  of  pride 
and  austerity  to  the  eye  of  those  who  do  not  know  a?l 
the  elements  of  his  character.  There  was,  no  doubt, 
a  certain  haughtiness  at  times  evident  in  his  manner, 
and  a  sensitiveness,  allied  to  self-esteem,  which  did 
not  long  escape  my  observation,  and  to  which  he  after- 
wards frankly  confessed.  But  I  was  charmed  and 
carried  away  with  his  genuine  warmth  of  feeling  and 
nobleness  of  sentiment,  which,  though  conjoined  in 
him,  as  often  in  others,  with  considerable  impetuosity 
of  temper,  showed  him  formed  for  the  highest  style 
of  friendship. 

"  From  that  day  forward  we  became  friends. 
I  always  hailed  his  visits  as  times  of  intellectual  and 
literary  enjoyment,  and  of  profitable  converse  on 
theological  subjects.  And  well  do  I  remember  the 
nights  I  spent  in  his  lodgings  in  1839,  when,  con- 
versing on  metaphysics  and  classical  literature,  we 
were  often  startled  by  the  midnight  clock  as  we  dis- 
cussed the  doctrines  of  Butler,  or  expatiated  on  the 
genius  of  Aristotle.     At  that  time  he  was,  like  most 


42  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W,   JI.   IIEWITSON. 

youug  men  of  liis  stamp,  fall  of  literary  projects. 
His  knowledge  and  admiration  of  the  ancient  classics 
were  also  daily  on  the  increase,  and  he  delighted  to 
discuss  subjects  of  classical  philology,  for  which  he 
had  a  peculiar  taste  and  aptitude.  The  beauty  and 
originality  of  many  of  his  translations  and  etymologi- 
cal definitions — though  he  was  by  no  means  free  from 
that  fanciful  ness  to  which  all  philologists  are  so  prone 
— gave  a  great  value  and  charm  to  the  classic  talk  in 
which  we  too  often  indulged, 

"  But  studies  of  a  higher  kind  had  begun  to  occupy 
his  energies,  and  give  a  new  impress  to  his  character. 
That  great  and  decided  change  of  heart,  without 
which  there  is  no  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God, 
had  not  then  been  experienced  by  him,  as  I  after- 
wards learned  from  himself  and  others ;  but,  as  far  as 
I  could  judge,  he  w^as  behind  none  of  his  fellow- 
students  in  seriousness  of  disposition  and  gravity 
of  deportment.  He  even  seemed  more  advanced 
than  many  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  Divine 
things." 

At  the  close  of  the  college  session  he  went  to  reside 
for  the  summer  in  the  family  of  General  Sir  David 
Foulis,  at  Cairnie  Lodge,  Fifeshire. 

"To  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Cairnie  Lodge,  October  16,  1839. — 
....  My  classes  open  on  the  6th  proximo,  but  I  shall  not 

leave  Cairnie  till  the  12th  or  l3th A  fortnight  since  I 

compeared  before  the  Presbytery  of  Cupar,  to  undergo  exam- 
ination, and  was  examined  before  the  whole  body  on  the  sub- 


LITERARY   TASTES.  43 

ect  of  last  session's  prelections.  I  enjoy  the  intellectual  gladia- 
torship  of  such  a  questioning,  particularly  when  the  onslaught 

is  made  by  five  or  six  well-appointed  examinators I 

shall  regret  my  leaving  the  home  of  one  who  has  done  towards 
me  the  office  of  a  friend,  by  telling  me,  suaviter  in  modo,  when 

and  wherein  I  have  been  in  fault The  remembrance  of 

her,  I  hope,  will  bless  me,  and  be  to  me  itself  a  friend  and  a 
monitor This  is  the  season  of  the  faded  leaf  and  melan- 
choly fancy  ;  rife  in  parables,  written  on  the  trees,  and  read 
aloud  by  the  passing  wind :  it  is  a  season  of  sad  delight — of 
beauty  in  decay.  I  expect  soon  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
3'ou,  and  of  having  my  mind  ventilated  by  the  circulation 
throughout  its  chambers  of  a  fresh  current  of  thoughts  and 
feelings." 

A  glimpse  into  those  seasons  of  mental  "ventila- 
tion" his  friend  enables  ns  to  give,  through  the  me- 
dium of  a  private  diary,  in  which  Mr.  Dodds  recorded 
at  the  time  the  impressions  left  by  successive  inter- 
views. "  Due  allowance,"  says  the  writer,  "  must  be 
made  for  the  sanguine  hopes  and  affectionate  ardor  of 
youthful  friendship,  but  I  may  be  permitted  to  afiirm 
that  what  follows  is  an  honest  record  of  my  impres- 
sions and  convictions." 

"  Jtdy  4,  1839.— To-day  my  old  friends,  B ,  T ,  and 

Hewitson,  took  a  run  out  of  town,  and  spent  a  few  hours  with 
me.  The  conversation  was  of  a  most  instructive  quality,  and 
embraced  some  of  the  highest  Christian  topics.  Hewitson  as 
fond  of  metaphysical  speculation  as  ever." 

"  Dec.  6. — II.  and  I  carried  on  our  conversation  into  the 
middle  of  the  night.  H.  is  full  of  philosophy  and  wisdom,  and 
has  a  fine  vein  of  fancy  and  eloquent  expression." 

"Jan.  13,  1840.— B and  I  adjourned  for  a  part  of  the 


44  MEMOIR   OF   llEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

night  to  Hewitson's  lodgings,  where  we  had  worship  as  a  fam- 
ily. We  had  much  converse  together,  chiefly  on  the  subject 
of  the  Jews,  and  the  prophecies  relative  to  their  future  conver- 
sion and  restoration.     B maintained  that  there  will  be 

some  extraordinary  and  exclusive  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
power  to  the  Jews  as  a  nation,  which  shall  lead  to,  or  at  least 
complete,  their  conversion ;  and  he  seemed  to  verge  towards 
the  doctrine  of  the  personal  reign.  H.  and  I  held  an  opposite 
opinion,  though  believing  that  God's  ancient  people  sljall  yet 
be  gloriously  and  nationally  restored  to  their  own  land." 

"  Jaru.  25. — My  dear  and  excellent  friend  Hewitson  came 

here  from  Edinburgh  to-day He  is  evidently  subject  to 

fits  of  depression,  and  he  confesses  to  frequent  despondency. 
His  is  a  rich  and  rare  mind." 

"  March  5. — Dined  and  passed  the  night  with  Hewitson.  I 
had  much  pleasant,  and  trust  profitable,  conversation  with  him 
on  various  subjects,  chiefly  biblical  and  religious.  In  several 
expositions  of  difficult  passages  of  Scripture,  H.  showed  great 
critical  acumen,  and  much  sound  knowledge  of  the  Word  of 
God.  I  am  convinced  he  would  make  an  admirable  professor 
of  biblical  criticism." 

Eeverting  to  tlie  momentous  question  of  his  per- 
sonal reconciliation  to  God,  lie  continued  month  after 
month  under  the  power  of  guilty  unbelief.  "I  cried," 
he  writes  about  a  year  afterwards  concerning  this  sad 
season,  "  I  cried  to  the  unknown  Ood  with  my  voice 
[the  italics  are  his  own],  and  often  cried  in  despair. 
The  cry  seemed  never  to  reach  His  ears,  and  then 
I  was  so  'troubled  that  I  could  not  speak.'  At  such 
a  time  would  I  pour  forth  to  God  such  lines  as 
these ; — 


THE    UNKNOWN   GOD,  45 

0  wherefore  hast  Thou  left  me  now 

In  desp'rate  struggle  all  alone  ? 
What  tempest  hides  Thine  awful  brow  ? 

What  horror  girds  Thy  gracious  throne  ? 

Thou  art  my  Father — deign  to  look 

Upon  the  anguish  throbbing  here, 
And  not  regard  with  stern  rebuke 

The  scorching  agony  of  this  tear." 

Mere  religiousness  never  can  liave  any  otlier  issue. 
"I  lived,"  are  his  own  emphatic  words  in  the  same 
letter,  explaining  the  now  detected  cause  of  his  misery, 
"not  among  things  without  so  much  as  among  things 
within."  Dwelling  amidst  the  dark  recesses  of  his 
own  heart,  he  had  left  unexplored  "  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  And  not  knowing  God 
— not  understanding  His  heart  towards  him,  he  had 
not  dared  to  "come  nigh." 

But  the  spring  of  1840  brought  the  burdened  pil- 
grim to  the  Cross,  The  vonog  likeiog  6  x^?  iKevde^iai 
at  length  rose  above  his  horizon,  and  illumined  his 
hitherto  shadowed  path. 

Faith  is  the  soul's  outward,  not  inward,  look.  The 
object  on  which  faith  fixes  its  eye  is,  not  the  heart's 
ever-varying  frames,  but  the  never-varying  Christ. 
Beholding,  in  Christ  crucified,  God's  manifested  love, 
and  believing  that  love  undoubtingly,  the  sinner  is 
thrilled  by  that  "perfect  love"  which  "  casteth  out 
fear."  This  simple,  yet  all-important,  secret  of  peace 
and  joy  Mr.  Hewitson  was  now  to  learn,  and  to  learn 


46  MExMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H,   HEWITSON. 

at  the  lips,  not  of  a  human  teacher,  but  of  that  Sa- 
viour at  whose  feet  he  was  to  find  repose. 

An  affecting  episode  intervened.  It  was  the  final 
struggle  of  self-righteousness.  Having  in  the  early 
part  of  the  winter  visited  Dundee,  where  the  Lord 
was  working  so  marvellously  in  the  congregation  of 
the  late  Mr.  M'Cheyne,  he  had  returned  to  Edinburgh, 
stirred  into  new  earnestness.  The  earnestness  found 
expression  thus : — 

"  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  shed  abroad  the  love  of  God  in  my 
heart  by  Thy  Spirit  given  unto  me  this  vreek,  and  I  shall  dedi- 
cate myself  this  week  to  Thy  service,  entering  into  covenant 
with  Thee,  my  strength  and  Redeemer.  I  shall  seek  to  crucify 
my  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts, — to  subdue  the  mo- 
tions of  pride,  vanity,  revenge,  worldly-mindedness, — and  to 
glorify  thee  in  my  heart  and  life.  That  I  may  keep  this  cove- 
nant inviolate,  give  me,  0  Lord !  the  spirit  of  grace  and  suppli- 
cation, of  purity  and  watchfulness ;  and  to  Thee,  at  the  end  of 
this  week,  if  Thou  preserve  me  till  then,  I  shall  ascribe  all  the 
praise.     Amen. 

"  Sahhath-dmj,  December  29,  1839." 

There  are  works  which  the  Scriptures  designate 
"  dead  works"  because  the  doer  of  them  is  not  himself 
accepted  with  God  or  not  realizing  his  acceptance. 
Such  a  work,  notwithstanding  its  deceptive  guise,  was 
this  "Covenant."  For  in  what  state  had  it  left  the 
man  subscribing  it  ? 

"To  Dr.  Marsden. — Edinburgh,  January  30,  1840. — I 
look  back  often  on  the  past  with  regret,  and  forward  into  the 
future  with  despondency.     Another  winter  after  this  one,  and 


THE   CKISIS.  47 

my  college  course  is  finished.  What  shall  I  do  then  ?  The 
responsibilities  of  the  ministry  are  awful ;  and  unless  I  bo 
changed  much  for  the  better,  though  I  am  not  outwardly 
wicked,  I  shall  not  dare  to  approach  the  sacred  office." 

At  last,  Liowever,  a  new  scene  opens ; — 

To  THE  SAME. — Edinburgh,  Maij  4,  1840. —  ....  My 
mind  is  composing  itself  under  the  solemnizing  influence  of  one 
vast,  overwhelming,  all-absorbing  idea, — that  of  the  responsi- 
bilities belonging  to  the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  When  I 
wrote  you  last  (30th  January),  that  idea  was  oppressive — it 
sank  me  into  despondency.  For  two  months  past,  however,  I 
have  been  all  but  settled  in  the  determination  to  go  forward,  in 
the  strength  of  the  Lord,  as  a  laborer  into  his  vineyard ;  and  so 
much  are  my  feelings  changed,  that,  whereas  I  was  before 
afraid  to  intrude  myself  into  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  I 
am  beginning  to  be  afraid  to  hesitate,  or  to  draw  back.  '  If 
any  man  draw  back,  saith  the  Lord,  my  soul  shall  have  no  pleas- 
ure in  him.'" 

These  words  announce  the  crisis  of  his  personal 
history.  The  sunshine  is  reached.  The  burden  is 
henceforth,  gone — not,  indeed,  the  burden  of  corrup- 
tion, but  the  burden  of  unforgiven  sin.  "There  is 
now  no  condemnation." 

The  reconciled  man  thus  describes  the  source  of 
his  Christian  liberty : — 

To  nis  Father. —  .  .  .  .  "  I  am  now  convinced  that,  after 
hearing  it  preached  a  thousand  times  over,  we  still  remain 
ignorant  of  the  gospel,  unless  we  see  clearly,  and  feel  joyfully, 
that  Christ  is  offered  to  us,  wretched,  lost  sinners,  in  all  His 
fulness,  as  the  free  gift  of  God.  I  am  sure  of  this,  that  for  a 
long,  long  time  I  have  been  deceiving  myself,  and  making  my- 


48  MEMOIR   OF  llEV,    W.   II.   IIEWITSON. 

self  miserable  every  day,  through  ignorance  of  the  free,  glorious 
gospel,  while  I  imagined  that  I  clearly  understood  its  gracious 
character.  For  long  the  painful  feeling  still  preyed  upon  my 
mind,  that  I  must  do  some  good  works  myself,  or  God  would 
not  accept  me  in  Christ  Jesus ;  and  my  misery  was,  that  while 
Satan  thus  blinded  my  eyes,  I  found  myself  unable  to  do  the 
good  works  that  I  would.  Now  I  see  that  the  gospel  is  quite 
different, — that  it  is  free,  and  full,  and  wholly  of  grace." 

And  does  lie  well  to  rejoice?  There  is  a  counter- 
feit joy  into  which  Satan  cheats  the  soul.  That  joy 
eschews  the  tear,  and  the  inward  warring,  and  the  hill 
Difficulty,  and  the  Apollyon  conflict,  as  only  the  beg- 
garly elements  of  bondage.  Not  so  the  joy  now 
vouchsafed  to  Mr.  Hewitson.  His  joy — ending  the  fear 
which  hath  torment,  and  ending  it  through  simple  be- 
lieving— melts  him  into  a  hitherto  unknown  tenderness, 
and  nerves  him  with  a  hitherto  unknown  strength. 

"  You  wrote  that  sometimes,  when  you  look  at  the  sin  which 
still  lives  in  your  flesh,  you  can  hardly  imagine  that  Christ  dwells 
in  you :  but,  in  the  first  place,  though  sin  still  lives  in  your  flesh, 
you  do  not  now  live  in  sin  ;  in  the  second  place,  though  sin  still 
lives  in  your  flesh,  you  do  not  now  recognize  its  sovereignty  ;  it 
lives  in  your  flesh,  as  a  messenger  of  Satan,  and  cleaves  to  you  as 
a  body  of  death  ;  but  you  hate  it — flee  from  it — pray  against  it. 

It  is  your  enemy,  not  your  sovereign My  prayer  for 

you,  my  dear  friend,  is,  that  your  comforts  in  the  Lord  may  al- 
ways be  greater  than  your  distresses  in  the  flesh,  and  that 
through  Divine  grace  you  may  be  able,  in  the  darkest  hour,  to 
say,  What  time  I  am  afraid,  I  will  trust  in  God  :  in  God  I  have 
put  my  trust ;  I  will  not  fear  what  flesh  can  do  unto  me' — '  I 
am  persuaded  that  nothing  can  separate  me  from  the  love  of 
God,  Avhich  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  my  Lord.'" 


CHAPTER  m. 

1840,  1841. 

Self-Dedication — First  Fruits-Correspondence — Close  of  College  Course 
— Evangelistic  Zeal — Personal  Holiness. 

Does  the  reader  remember  the  "picture"  in  the  In- 
terpreter's private  room?  "It  had  eyes  lifted  up  to 
heaven,  the  best  of  books  in  its  hand,  the  law  of  truth 
was  written  upon  its  lips,  the  world  was  behind  its 
back ;  it  stood  as  if  it  pleaded  with  men,  and  a  crown 
of  gold  did  hang  over  its  head !"  Mr.  Hewitson 
might  have  sat  for  that  picture. 

"Don't  you  think,"  asks  Mr.  Hewitson,  "that  in  the 
case  of  many  Christians  regeneration  is  followed  by  a 
considerable  period  of — not  darkness,  but — obscurity 
(such  as  that  of  the  understanding  in  childhood),  un- 
fitting the  soul  to  take  in  a  wliole  Christ,  a.nd  conse- 
quently to  enjoy  a  perfect  peace?  Such  Christians 
live  far  below  their  privileges,  as  accredited  children 
of  adoption,  born  to  an  inheritance  not  in  themselves, 
but  in  Christ."  In  Mr.  Hewitson  himself,  the  child- 
hood is  seen  only  in  his  single-hearted  sincerity ;  in 
understanding,  he  is  already  a  man. 
3 


50  MEMOIli   OF   KKV.    W.    II.    IIEWITSON. 

Dr,  Payson  lias  supposed  the  various  classes  of 
Christians  to  be  ranged  in  different  concentric  circles 
round  Christ  as  their  common  centre.  "Some,"  he 
says,  "value  the  presence  of  their  Saviour  so  highly 
that  they  cannot  bear  to  be  at  any  remove  from  Him. 
Even  their  work  they  will  bring  up,  and  do  it  in  the 
light  of  His  countenance,  and,  while  engaged  in  it, 
will  be  seen  constantly  raising  their  eyes  to  Him,  as 
if  fearful  of  losing  one  beam  of  His  light.  Others, 
who,  to  be  sure,  would  not  be  content  to  live  out  of 
His  presence,  are  yet  less  wholly  absorbed  by  it  than 
these,  and  may  be  seen  a  little  further  off,  engaged 
here  and  there  in  their  various  callings,  their  eyes 
generally  upon  their  work,  but  often  looking  up  for 
the  light  which  they  love.  A  third  class,  beyond 
these,  but  yet  within  the  life-giving  rays,  includes  a 
doubtful  multitude,  many  of  whom  are  so  much  en- 
gaged in  their  worldly  schemes  that  they  may  be  seen 
standing  sideways  to  Christ,  looking  mostly  the  other 
wa}'",  and  only  now  and  then  turning  their  faces 
towards  the  light."  In  the  innermost  concentric  cir- 
cle Mr.  Hewitson  now  took  his  stand.  "From  the 
time,"  writes  his  earliest  friend,  "that  he  was  brought 
clearly  to  see  Christ  as  his  '  all  in  all,'  his  soul  was  filled 
with  His  glory,  as  a  present  Saviour  and  ever-living 
PViend ;  his  communion  with  Him  became  more  like 
that  of  one  friend  with  another,  who  are  personally 
near,  than  of  a  distant  correspondence."  His  holy 
ambition  now  Avas  to  "follow  the  Lord  fully. "     "A 


SELF-DEDICATION — FIRST-FKUITS.  51 

blessing  it  is  beyond  every  other,"  are  his  own  expres- 
sive words  at  this  period,  "to  have  an  ear  deaf  to  the 
Avorld's  music,  but  all  awake  to  the  voice  of  Him  who 
is  "the  chief  among  ten  thousand,  and  altogether 
lovely/" 

In  May  he  returned  to  Dalmelliugton  for  the  sum- 
mer. His  relatives  at  once  marked  the  great  change. 
The  very  night  he  arrived  he  spoke  to  all  the  family 
most  solemnly  on  the  concerns  of  eternity.  And  the 
whole  village  soon  saw  that  he  was  another  man.  He 
had  been  known  hitherto  as  the  great  scholar,  and  the 
exemplary  divinity  student;  but  now,  they  "took 
knowledge  of  him  that  he  had  been  with  Jesus." 

"That,"  said  he,  one  day  soon  after  his  return, 
laying  his  hand  upon  the  open  Bible, — "that  shall 
henceforth  be  my  daily  study;  I  desire  to  converse 
through  it  daily  with  God.  The  purpose  was  not  un- 
accomplished. The  Bible  may  be  said  to  have  thence- 
forth become  his  library.  No  longer  regarding  it  as  a 
mere  hieroglyphic  to  be  curiously  examined  by  the 
eye  of  the  scholar,  he  came  to  it  with  the  heart  of  a 
child,  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  his  Father.  And  out 
of  it  he  learned  that  living  and  fresh  divinity  which 
impregnated  with  its  savor  his  whole  future  conversa- 
tion, and  correspondence,  and  ministry. 

The  man  in  the  picture  "stood  as  if  he  pleaded 
with  men."  Ere  Mr.  Hewitson  had  left  Edinburgh, 
his  "  pleading"  had  been  instrumental  in  the  conver- 
sion of  a  soul.     The  case  was  remarkable.    It  was  an 


52  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.  HEWITSON. 

aged  formalist  on  her  death-bed.  With  a  tender  ur- 
gency he  had  preached  to  her  Christ,  and  he  had 
preached  in  faith  and  expectation.  The  woman's 
heart  had  been  opened.  Not  long  after,  she  had  died 
"  in  the  Lord."*  And  now,  in  his  native  village,  a 
still  more  striking  case  occurred.  It  was  a  woman 
above  eighty,  also  on  her  death-bed.  Awakened 
within  a  week  of  her  decease,  she  welcomed  the  tid- 
ings which  he  brought  to  her  of  "  free  grace  to  the 
chief  of  sinners."  Her  distress  gave  place  to  a  deep 
and  calm  peace. 

"Were  not  these  two  earliest  sheaves  of  his  coming 
harvest,  cases  of  so  marked  a  type,  that  the  laborer 
might  learn  to  expect  great  things,  and  never  to  limit 
the  Holy  On6  of  Israel? 

Did  they  not  furnish,  besides,  an  instructive  com- 
mentary on  his  own  two  years  of  unbelief?  Know- 
ing now  that  that  long  interval  of  groping  had  in  no 
way  qualified  him  for  coming  to  the  Lord,  but  that  at 
its  close  he  had  come,  not  pleading  the  two  years  of 
anxiety,  but  simply  as  a  sinner,  he  never  sanctioned, 
in  his  dealings  with  others,  a  day's  or  an  hour's  delay 
in  coming  to  Christ,  but  demanded,  in  his  Master's 
name,  immediate  and  undoubting  faith  in  his  message, 
and  held  out,  as  the  result,  immediate  and  perfect 
peace.  The  success  here  vouchsafed  to  such  dealing 
was  to  him  an  experimentum  crucis — a  crucible-test, 

*  We  have  this  iDcident  from  two  eye-witDCSses,  whose  judgment  is 
worthy  of  implicit  coofidence. 


CORRESPOin)ENCE.  53 

proving  wliat  •was  the  Lord's  way  in  tlie  conversion  of 
the  sinner. 

He  established  that  summer,  in  the  village,  a  week- 
ly prayer-meeting,  in  which  he  ever  afterwards  took 
the  deepest  interest.  Years  afterwards,  when  Mr. 
Hewitson  was  away  in  a  distant  land,  and  engrossed 
by  almost  overwhelming  labors,  he  used  to  remember 
the  httle  Dalmellington  meeting,  regularly  suggesting 
suitable  exercises,  and  urging  on  its  members  to  pray, 
and  not  to  faint.  The  plant  bore  not  a  little  fi-uit.  Of 
that  meeting  we  have  reason  to  believe,  it  has  been 
written  on  high — "This  and  that  man  was  born 
there." 

The  following  fragmentary  extracts  wiU  indicate  his 
views  and  feehngs  at  this  period  : — 

To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — ^^  Dalmellington^  June  15, 

1840. — Yesterday  I  heard  two  sermons,  as  dry, 

and  general,  and  unedifying  as  might  be.  They  were  preached 
away  from,  and  not  to  the  congregation.  An  abstract,  and 
what  I  should  call  an  impersonal  sermon,  has  a  chilling  and 
deadening  eflFect  upon  the  soul.  It  seems  strange  that  the 
Word  of  God,  which  is  quick  and  powerful,  should,  in  the 
hands  of  different  preachers,  produce  effects  so  different — but  so 
it  is  :  the  same  waters  of  life  (for  the  sermons  I  heard  yesterday 
were  evangehcal)  passing  through  one  channel,  quicken  and  re- 
fresh the  hearer  ;  and  passing  through  another  channel,  deaden 

and  petrify The  Evangelical  is  *  of  the  heart,  in  the 

spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter— whose  praise  is  not  of  man,  but 
of  God.'  ....  If  Christ  dwell  in  us,  the  evidences  of  His 
gracious  presence  are  not  indistinct  and  illegible.  The  faith 
which  quickens  enlightens  likewise,  for  faith  is  just  the  grace  of 


54  MEMOIR  OF  REV.    W.   II.   IIEWITSON. 

an  indwelling  Saviour  ;  now  the  Saviour  is  life,  and  '  the  life  is 
the  light  of  man.'  ....  Your  very  affectionate  friend, 

W.  H.  H." 
"To  THE  SAME. — Dalmellington,  July  13,  1840. —  .... 
Don't  you  sometimes  experience  the  effect  which  the  sight  and 
the  conversation  of  Christian  friends  have  in  adding  to  the  in- 
teerst  which  you  feel  in  their  well-being,  and  to  the  fervency 
with  which  you  pray  on  their  behalf?  ....  In  Scripture 
there  is  frequent  allusion  made  to  this  influence  of  face-to-face 

communion Paul,  writing- to  the  Roman  converts,  says, 

'  I  long  to  see  you,  that  I  may  be  comforted  together  with  you 
by  the  mutual  faith  both  of  you  and  me.'  And  in  concluding 
his  letter  to  the  '  elect  lady,'  John  says,  '  I  trust  to  come  unto 
you,  and  speak  face  to  face,  that  our  joy  may  be  full.'  'Tis 
well  that,  since  in  this  world  Christians  have  to  walk  '  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight,'  as  regards  their  Lord,  they  have  frequent 
opportunities  afforded  them  by  Him  of  walking  by  sight  and 
not  by  faith,  as  regards  one  another.  Yesterday  I  again  com- 
municated in  a  neighboring  parish,  and  it  was  to  me,  blessed  be 

the  Lord !   a  comfortable  communion Experience  has 

taught  me,  however,  that  in  my  journey  heavenward  I  must 

pass  through  much  tribulation On  Saturday  night  I 

was  hard  beset  by  Satan ;  I  was  afflicted  so  that  I  durst  not 
pray  ;  *  I  found  trouble  and  sorrow  ;'  I  went  to  bed,  despairing 
of  relief,  almost  resolved  not  to  communicate.  I  awoke  in  like 
manner,  desponding  and  irresolute,  but,  God  be  thanked  !  I 
was  encouraged  to  say  to  the  principalities  and  powers  that 
sought  my  destruction,  '  If  the  Lord  ever  will  be  able  and 
willing  to  save  me,  He  is  able  and  willing  now — yes,  this  very 
day.'  ....  Then  did  I  feel  that  I  was  running  the  risk  of 
denying  Christ  before  those  very  devils  whom  he  had  vanquish- 
ed on  the  cross,  and  of  giving  them  occasion  for  temporary 
triumph ;  therefore  I  resolved  to  present  myself  before  the 
Lord,  and  to  confess  Him  in  the  presence  of  both  men  and 
devils.     Satan  bears  a  grudge  to  the  commemorative  ordinance 


CORRESPONDENCE,  55 

of  the  supper,  for  it  is  commemorative  of  his  overthrow  as  well 
as  of  the  Redeemer's  triumph." 

"To  THE  SAME. — Dalmellington,  September  26,  1840. — 
Since  I  wrote  my  last  letter  to  yon,  I  have  been  ten  days  or  so 
absent  in  Galloway,  on  a  round  of  visits  among  relations  and 
friends.  A  day  and  night  I  spent  pleasantly  with  a  friend  in 
Dairy,  which  is,  by  the  good  people  of  thereabouts,  called 
•  The  Clachan  ;'  or,  in  consequence  of  a  tradition  that  the  Be- 
loved Disciple  himself  instructed  its  rude  occupants  of  the  first 
century  in  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  '  St.  John's  Clachan.'  The 
finger  of  credulity  still  points  to  the  stone  bench  on  which  the 

apostle  sat,  with  his  dear  barbarians  around  him My 

friend  carried  me  to  an  eminence  over-looking  the  village,  and 
commanding  an  extensive  view  of  '  mosses,  moors,  and  falls ;' 
'  of  mountain,  valley,  and  resplendent  river.'  He  showed  me 
the  spot  where  the  persecution  commenced  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Jeroboam  of  our  country — the  perjured,  rollicking,  reck- 
less Charles  II.  Beginning  with  Kenmure  Castle,  he  pointed 
out  on  every  side,  both  near  and  in  the  distance,  houses,  not 
few  nor  far  between,  where  dwelt  saints  of  the  second  Refor- 
mation  Almost  every  house  is  a  martyr's  monument. 

"  How  sensitively  afraid  of  being  selfish  you  are !  ...  . 
Self-love  is  from  heaven,  heavenly  ;  it  is  *  an  ingredient  in  the 
compound  maw,  infused  at  the  creation  of  the  kind.'  It  is  not 
selfishness.  Selfishness  belongs  to  devils,  but  self-love  to  the 
angels  of  light.  In  evincing  due  self-regard,  you  will  not  be 
guilty  of  selfishness  any  more  than  Timothy,  in  drinking  '  a 
little  wine  for  his  stomach's  sake,  and  his  often  infirmities,'  was 
chargeable  with  intemperance.  Some  virtues  very  much,  in 
the  face,  resemble  their  correspondent  vices." 

"To  THE  SAME. — DalmelUnffton,  October  8,  1840. —  .... 
I  have  been  enjoying  an  almost  uninterrupted  serenity  of  mind  ; 
my  peace  has  been  greater  than  usual,  not  because  I  imagined 
I  was  increasing  in  holiness,  but  because  my  view  of  the  all- 
sufficiencv  and  freenoss  of  Christ's  risfhteousness  has  been,  bv 


56  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

the  grace  of  God,  more  enlarged  and  consolatory The 

moon  was  an  hour  ago  shining  beautifully  in  a  dark  blue  sky : 
ever  and  anon  would  a  cloud  come  between,  and  each  cloud  as 
it  came  seemed  to  be  the  last;  but  scarcely  the  moon  had 
peered  from  behind  it,  when  the  vapor,  before  scarcely  visible, 
condensing  into  another  cloud,  floated  on,  and  of  a  sudden 
dimmed  her  light  again.  Of  like  kind  are  the  phenomena  by 
which  'the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  in  the  face  of  Christ' 

is  now  brightened  and  now  obscured  in  the  soul The 

clouds  which  hide  the  moon  rise  from  the  earth,  and,  in  like 
manner,  that  spiritual  darkness  which  seems  to  arise  from  the 
withdrawal  of  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  has  its  origin  in 
the  state  of  our  own  souls." 

He  devoted  himself  that  summer  to  his  preparatory- 
studies  with  an  ardor  wliicli  the  feebleness  of  his  al- 
ready shattered  frame  could  with  difficulty  restrain 
within  due  limits.     He  writes : — 

"  August  31,  1840. — I  am  not  troubled  now  either  by  *  the 
indolence  of  genius'  or  the  genius  of  indolence.  I  was  out  of 
bed  this  morning  by  four  o'clock,  and  'tis  not  yet  time  for 
breakfast.  I  wish  I  could  keep  '  MinshuU'  hours  regularly  ;  I 
dare  say  such  hours  were  kept  by  Adam  and  Eve  in  Eden, 
when  they  were  wont  to  close  their  eyes  in  faith,  and  to  onen 
them  in  prayer." 

And  again : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — September  2,  1840. — ^'Tis  now 
ripe  time  for  me  to  cast  off  the  negligenza  which  characterized 
my  preparations  for  Dr.  Brunton,  and  to  aim  at  something 
more  than  a  mere  dash  of  Hebrew  literature.  Meantime  I  de- 
vote three  hours  a-day  to  the  reading  of  the  Hebrew  Psalter, 
and  have  reached,  I  think,  the  75th  Psalm.  The  delights  of 
classic  and  vernacular  poetry  are  forgotten  amidst  those  of  the 


CLOSE  OF  COLLEGE  COURSE.         57 

loftier  than  Maeonian  strains  of  Judah  ....  Though  I  have  a 
presentiment  that  my  sphere  of  duty  may  he  assigned  to  me 
within  the  bounds  of  Scotland,  I  am  nevertheless  desirous  of 
mastering  the  Hebrew  tongue,  as  that  would  enable  me,  in 
some  measure,  if  requisite,  to  declare  '  the  glad  tidings'  to  some 
or  another  portion  of  God's  ancient  people  ;  and  as,  at  all  events, 
an  acquaintance  with  the  original  language  of  the  Bible  is  the 
best  and  most  to  be  rehed  on  commentary  upon  our  English 
version." 

And  on  returning  to  Edinburgh  in  November,  "  for 
the  last  time  in  the  capacity  of  a  student,"  the  same 
indomitable  energy  characterized  him  as  in  his  earliest 
student-days.  With  his  college  studies  that  winter  he 
combined  the  regular  visitation,  twice  a-week,  of  a  dis- 
trict in  a  very  destitute  part  of  the  city,  followed  up 
by  a  not  less  regular  Sabbath  evening  service.  He 
likewise  discharged  the  weekly  duties  of  the  chair  of 
the  University  Missionary  Association,  from  which  he 
delivered  several  addresses,  at  once  adorned  by  classic 
elegance,  and  imbued  with  a  heavenly  fervor.  His 
academic  course  was  finished  in  March,  1841.*  The 
illustrious  man  whose  pupil  he  had  been,  never  ceased 
to  regard  him  with  affectionate  esteem,  as  one  of  the 
most  scholar-like  and  accomplished  students  who  had 
ever  passed  out  of  his  hall. 

"We  want  public  souls — we  want  them,"  are  the 
words  of  Bishop  Hacket,  enshrined  by  Coleridge  in 

*  Mr.  Hewitson  did  not  take  any  degree  at  College.  Little  value 
was  then  attached  to  it.  The  standard  of  examination  has  since  been 
raised.  He  passed  his  trials  for  license  before  the  Presbytery  of  Ayr, 
on  24th  January,  1841. 

3' 


58  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

his  Aphorisms  ;  "I  speak  it  with  compassion  ;  there 
is  no  sin  and  abuse  in  the  world  that  affects  my 
thoughts  so  much.  Omnes  quae,  sua  qucerunt — all  seek 
their  own."  Never  had  there  entered  a  college  one 
more  set  on  se^— never  had  there  left  it  one  more 
truly  a  "  public  soul."  "  I  shall  now,"  he  writes,  "  be 
careless  that  my  name  pass  away  from  the  earth  along 
with  this  mortal  body,  if  only  it  be  written  in  the 
Lamb's  Book  of  Life  in  heaven,  God  will  not  suffer 
me  to  be  ambitious  now."  "  We  knew  him,"  is  the 
testimony  of  an  Indian  missionary,*  in  the  hey-day  of 
his  intellectual  vigor,  and  remember  well  how  he  read 
his  prize  essay,  in  the  Edinburgh  University,  to  the 
admiring  assembly  of  his  fellow-students.  We  knew 
him  also  after  the  love  of  Christ  had  touched  his  heart, 
and  given  a  purer  and  more  divine  direction  to  all 
his  powers.  His  fine  genius  was  turned  to  the  cross, 
and  he  became  a  little  child,  f 

A  little  incident  strikingly  illustrates  the  intensity 
of  his  devotedness.  The  gold  medal — once  the  idol  of 
his  heart — he  forwarded  from  Dalmellington  to  a  friend 
in  Edinburgh,  to  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  put  into 
the  Lord's  treasury.  His  friend,  deeming  the  idol 
harmless,  laid  a  plan  for  sparing  it :  he  sent  him  a 
cheque  for  its  full  money- value,  and  craved  leave  to 
retain  the  medal  itself  as  an  in  memoriam.  Mr.  Hew- 
itson  thus  replied : — 

*  The  Rev.  John  Braidwood  of  Madras. 
f  Madras  Native  Herald,  Oct.,  1850. 


CLOSE  OF  COLLEGE  COURSE.  59 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — My  mind  is  made  up  as  to 
devoting  it  to  the  object  which  I  mentioned.  This  may  weigh 
with  you  in  counterbalance  to  the  feehngs  which  have  influenced 
your — shall  I  call  it  ? — condemnation  of  the  act.  It  was  only 
natural  that,  at  first,  my  reluctance  to  parting  with  an  object 
which  I  once  regarded  as  a  trophy  of  praiseworthy  ambition, 
and  round  which  many  once-pleasing  associations  were  gathered, 
should  be  almost  unconquerable  ;  but,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I 
have  got  the  victory  over  my  natural  feelings  of  reluctance,  and 
most  grievous  it  would  be  to  find  them  again  rising  to  the  as- 
cendant.  If  the  gaining  of  the  prize  was  a  trophy  of  nature, 
the  parting  with  it  will  be,  in  some  measure,  a  trophy  of  grace. 
Your  own  feelings  in  the  matter  will  enable  you  to  appreciate 
the  force  of  what  I  say.  In  the  meantime,  while  you  keep  the 
medal  in  retentis,  it  will  be  my  part  to  keep  in  retentis  the 
cheque  which  you  so  kindly  transmitted.  The  medal  is  to  you 
not  of  the  slightest  intrinsic  value  ;  it  is  only  the  pretium  affec- 
tionis  which  it  can  have  in  your  own  eyes  ....  I  shall  be 
glad  to  learn  by  your  next  that  your  difficulties  have  given 
way,  and  that  you  have  succeeded  in  effecting  the  sale." 

Some  may  not  sympathize  with,  this  iconoclasm.  But 
whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  act,  the  motive  is  like 
the  man.  "  Behold,  this  self-same  thing,"  writes  Paul, 
"  that  ye  sorrowed  after  a  godly  sort ;  what  careful- 
ness it  wrought  in  you,  yea,  what  clearing  of  your- 
selves, yea,  what  indignation,  yea',  what  revenge  1" 
Words  like  these  betoken  a  zeal  against  idols,  with 
which  another  than  the  convicted  and  pardoned  idola- 
ter may  not  intermeddle.  When  Mr.  Cecil  broke  the 
strings  of  his  once-loved  violin,  and  cast  away  his  brush 
and  palette,  he  felt  that  not  only  must  the  heart  be 
dissevered  from  the  idol,  but  the  idol  itself  must  be  put 


60  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON". 

out  of  sight.  It  is  the  Lord's  own  way.  "  I  will  take 
away  the  names  of  Baalim  out  of  her  mouth,  and  they 
shall  no  more  be  remembered  by  name." 

"  "When  I  look  back  upon  the  past  eight  years,"  we 
find  Mr.  Hewitson  writing  at  this  period,  "  I  see  them 
as  if  they  were  a  waste  howling  desert,  in  respect  of 
my  own  barrenness."  And  how  shall  the  desert  be 
now  clothed  with  verdure  ?  How  shall  that  Saviour, 
— who  is  now,  not  "  alter  ego'^  simply — his  other  self, 
but  "  unicus  egd'^ — his  one  and  only  self, — receive  the 
homage  of  his  life  ? 

Felix  Neff,  in  describing  his  feelings,  as,  from  the 
lofty  summit  of  Monte  Viso,  he  caught  his  first  glimpse 
of  the  mighty  country  stretched  out  at  his  feet,  thus 
wrote : — "  How  little  did  I  think  at  this  time  of  the 
Caesars,  the  Brutuses,  and  the  Virgils  of  ancient  times ! 
One  consideration  absorbed  all  my  thoughts,  spread- 
ing, as  it  were,  a  dark  veil  over  this  otherwise  smiling 
Italy.  I  was  now  surveying  the  dark  empire  of  the 
Beast !  '  O  Jesus !  thou  Divine  Sun  !'  I  exclaimed, 
'  wilt  Thou  never  again  enlighten  this  unhappy  peo- 
ple ?'  "  With  such  a  heart  Mr.  Hewitson  now  con- 
templates, not  a  dying  Italy,  but  a  dying  world.  He 
thus  appeals  to  a  little  band  of  fellow-students : — 

"  You  will  see  them — old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  lettered 
and  ignorant — perishing  through  lack  of  knowledge, — given  up 
to  delusion,  to  believe  a  He, — ^living  in  bondage  to  the  powers 
of  darkness, — yielding  themselves  as  instruments  of  unright- 
eousness unto  sin, — and  hurrying  onward,  one  by  one,  without 


EVANGELISTIC  ZEAL — PERSONAL  HOLINESS.       61 

God  and  without  hope,  to  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
to  the  place,  of  the  undying  worm,  and  the  unquenchable  fire. 
Oh  !  what  can  ye  do,  ere  their  doom  be  sealed,  to  pluck  them 
like  brands  from  the  burning  ?  Will  ye  not  spend  days  of 
anxious  toil,  and  nights  of  watching  unto  prayer,  if,  peradven- 
ture,  one  of  them,  at  least,  may  be  spared  from  ruin  ?" 

For  is  not  lie  in  possession  of  the  inestimable  secret 

that  secret  "  hidden  from  tlie  wise  and  prudent,  but 

revealed  unto  babes"— whereby  the  dying  may  have 
life  ?  "  Necessity,"  be  feels,  "  is  laid  upon  him ;  yea, 
woe  is  unto  him,  if  be  preach  not  the  Gospel ;"  and 
that,  be  it  marked,  not  because  he  is  professionally  a 
minister,  but  because  he  is  personally  a  Christian. 
With  what  boldness  of  faith  and  yearning  of  affection 
does  he  breast  the  mighty  enterprise ! 

"Such  is  the  expansive  energy  of  Christian  love,  that 
wherever  it  sees  a  brow  like  that  which  was  mocked  with  a 
crown  of  thorns,  it  will  not  be  satisfied  till  on  that  brow  there 
be  engraven  the  name  of  Jesus  .  .  .  .  '  I  am  a  missionary'  is  a 
thought  which  we  should  frequently— every  day  that  passes- 
entertain  in  our  minds :  whenever  a  new  face  of  circumstances 
presents  itself,— whenever  a  change  in  our  position  occurs,— 
we  should  ever  be  ready  to  put  the  question,  '  What,  as  a  mis- 
sionary, ought  I  now  to  do  ?'....  As  to  Peter,  so  to  every 
Christian  is  the  question  put  by  Jesus,  '  Lovest  thou  me  V  As 
on  Peter,  so  on  every  Christian  is  the  commandment  laid  by 
Jesus,  •  Feed  my  sheep.'  ....  Were  we—vfere  all  believers 
—in  point  of  spirituality  of  mind,  and  in  point  of  zealous  co- 
operation with  Jesus  in  his  missionary  work,  what  it  behoves 
them  to  be, — were  they  to  give  the  men  of  the  world  occasion  to 
say,  not  only,  '  See  how  these  Christians  love  one  another,'  but 
likewise   "  See  how  these  Christians  work  for  their  Lord,' — 


62  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

then,  by  good  token,  the  time  were  not  f\ir  distant  when  tho 
gospel  shall  be  preached  literally  to  every  soul  under  heaven." 

His  eye,  besides,  is  on  tlie  stealthy  movements  of 
that  canker-worm  which  so  often  bhghts  into  impo- 
tence an  orthodox  and  even  active  ministry, — a  world- 
conforming  walk. 

"  How  the  sinews  of  evangelistic  labors  are  relaxed  by  a 
want  of  habitual  prayerfulness,  and  by  occasional  relapses  into 
secularity  !  So  universally  diffused,  and  so  contagious  is  the 
element  of  worldliness,  that,  owing  to  our  want  of  guardedness, 
it  often  steals  in  upon  us  imperceptibly,  and,  diffusing  its  virus 
through  our  souls,  prostrates  for  a  time  our  spiritual  energies. 
When  we  descend  into  and  inhale  that  element,  we  are  imme- 
diately paralyzed,  and  rendered  unable  to  co-operate  with  God, 
till  again  we  have  been  elevated  by  His  hand  into  the  region 
and  element  of  spirit." 

And  his  own  holy  walk  is  to  prove  impressively 
that  not  in  vain  has  he  gotten  insight  into  this  most 
momentous  of  all  "  furnishings"  of  the  "man  of  God" 
— a  single-hearted,  self-denying  life. 

What  then  ?  Shall  he  now  enter  the  vineyard  as 
one  of  the  Master's  commissioned  laborers?  Man 
wonld  have  pronounced  him  duly  "  furnished."  But 
He  who  conducted  Paul  into  Arabia  to  complete  his 
preparation  for  the  ministry,  takes  aside  Mr.  Hewitson 
for  further  training. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1841-1842. 

Health  giving  -way— Residence  at  Grangemuir— Conflicts— Symp- 
toms of  Consumption— Diary— Correspondence— License. 

"  I  KOW  am  beginning  to  feel  that  relaxation  for 
botli  mind  and  body  is  imperatively  requisite.  I  have 
been  jaded  beyond  my  powers  of  endurance,  and  long 
for  a  season  of  rest— of  bodily  as  well  as  mental  quiet, 
as  mucb  as  ever  poor  mariner  longed  for  bis  expected 
haven." 

So  wrote  Mr.  Hewitson  on  24th  March,  1841. 
Friends  had  been  warning  him,  for  months,  of  the 
danger  and  sin  of  persisting  in  his  protracted  hours 
of  study.  Several  times  that  spring  he  had  fainted 
away.  He  was  evidently  sinking  into  a  state  of  de- 
bility and  emaciation,  which,  unless  arrested,  must 
speedily  hasten  his  days  to  a  premature  close.  On  a 
careful  examination,  his  chest  had  been  ascertained  to 
be  as  yet  unaffected,  but  his  nervous  system  so  thor- 
oughly enfeebled,  that  only  a  season  of  entire  rest 
opened  up  any  prospect  of  its  repair. 

He  who  leads  His  own  "  by  a  way  which  they  know 


64  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

not"  prepared  a  rest  for  His  servant.  He  agreed  to 
become  for  eight  months  tutor  to  a  family  in  Fife — 
hoping  that  he  might  then  be  able  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel. To  this  "mountain  apart"  he  now  betook  him- 
self 

"  With  characteristic  energy  and  decision,"  says 
Mr.  Dodds,  alluding  to  this  Fifeshire  residence,  "he 
carried  out  his  new  views  and  convictions,  even  in  his 
familiar  letters.  No  more  letters  did  he  write  merely 
as  the  friend  or  scholar.  Every  production  of  his  pen 
showed  the  Christian.  Not  that  he  gave  up  the  gra- 
ces of  classic  allusion,  or  never  indulged  in  the  play- 
fulness of  friendship ;  but  he  mingled  with  all  he 
wrote  that  salt  and  savor  of  Christianity,  that  scriptu- 
ral illustration  and  experimental  feeling,  which  gave 
such  a  distinctive  character  to  his  future  life." 

"To  A  Fkiend  in  Edinburgh. — Grangemuir, Pittenweem, 
May  19,  1841. —  ....  I'm  getting  into  a  moderate  atnios- 
phere.  To  breathe  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  world  is  one 
thing ;  to  breathe  it  is  a  thing  quite  different.  Breathe  in  that 
element  I  must,  else  I  should  not  be  in  the  world  ;  but  breathe 
it,  0  that  I  never  may  !  else  I  should  be  of  the  world.  Be  it 
my  spirit,  and  be  it  the  spirit  of  all  my  friends,  to  live  ever 
content  ivith  the  present  lot,  but  content  in  it  never, — at  the 
same  time  never  to  live  either  content  with,  or  content  in  the 
unholiness,  whether  of  our  own  hearts,  or  of  the  hearts  of  them 

that  are  around  us As  to  the  church-bells,  why  should 

you  think  that  your  Father  in  heaven  should  be  angry  with 
you  when,  standing  on  your  hill  Mizar,  you  wept  at  the  thought 
of  His  holy  temple  ?  Was  He  angry  when  His  people  by  the 
rivers  of  Babylon  sat  down,  yea,  and  wept  when  they  remem- 


CONFLICTS.  66 

bered  Zion  ?  God  has  too  much  of  a  father's  heart  to  be  an- 
gry when  His  dear  children  weep,  without  repining,  under  the 
rod.  O  yes,  conscience  does  not  bid  you  weep,  but  when  sanc- 
tified nature  weeps,  conscience  cannot  frown." 

Like  Bunyan's  pilgrim,  he  descends  into  the  "  Val- 
ley of  Humiliation." 

"To  THE  SAME. — Grangemuir,  July  26, 1841.^  .  .  .  With 
regard  to  my  own  health  for  some  time  past,  that  of  my  soul 
has  been  so  afflicted  that  I  have  not  much  thought  or  care  to 

speak  about  the  health  of  my  body,  in  comparison The 

Lord's  dealings  with  me  have  been  in  faithfulness ;  and  from 
what  I  have  seen  of  His  ways,  as  a  God  of  judgment,  I  ought, 
like  the  Psalmist  (Ps.  cxix.  120),  to  tremble  and  be  afraid. 
Never  was  I  more  able  to  say  of  myself  than  now, '  The  Lord 
hath  filled  me  with  bitterness ;  He  hath  made  me  drunken 
with  wormwood.' " 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — Grangemuir,  July  26, 1841. 
— I  may  say  of  my  suflFerings  under  the  faithful  chastisement 
of  the  Lord,  who  is  '  terrible  out  of  His  holy  places,'  that '  I 
am  the  man  that  hath  seen  affliction  by  the  rod  of  his  wrath.' 
....  It  seems  to  me  that,  while  the  ministers  of  the  Church 
and  elders  have  committed  to  them  the  keys  of  discipline  for 
the  correction  of  open  and  outward  delinquencies,  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  himself  administers  directly  and  immedi- 
ately discipline,  in  the  way  of  suspending  from,  not  the  out- 
ward use,  but  the  inward  enjoyment  of  gospel  ordinances,  and 
thus,  in  dreadful  reality,  inflicting  the  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation for  a  season,  in  the  case  of  those  who  may  have  in- 
curred the  unseen  guilt  of  hardness  of  heart,  stifihess  of  neck, 

murmuring,  and  other  inward  spiritual  offences 0  that 

I  were  a  minister  of  the  gospel !  I  don't  mean  ordained  of 
man — for  it  is  a  little  thing  to  be  judged  of  man,  or  of 
man's  judgment — as  fit  for  the  pastoral  office ;  but  I  mean, 


66  MEMOIR  OF  IlEV.   }V.   H,   HEWITSON. 

ordained  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  The  time  may  come — God 
knoweth !" 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Grancjemuir,  Aug.  9, 1841. 
—  ....  To-day  has  been  a  gala-day  to  me ;  for  my  dear 
friend  M.  has  written  to  me  a  letter,  which  I  received  to-dav, 
penned  under  the  influence  of  Divine  grace  ;  he  is  henceforth  a 
friend  dearer  than  ever.  I  had  observed  in  him  glimmerings 
and  traces  of  the  day-spring ;  now — God  be  praised,  yea,  and 
God  is  praised  for  it ! — the  day-star  has  arisen  brightly  in 
M 's  heart :  he  has  had  ministered  to  him  an  abundant  en- 
trance into  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  letter 
is  that  of  a  dear  child  of  God." 

A  new  aflliction  visits  him,  and  the  sufferer  learns 
new  lessons. 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq.,  Edinburgh. — Grange^nuir, 
Sept.  23,  1841. — Thanks  to  God,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  I  am 

recovering.    I'm  able  to  sit  up  awhile  to-day As   for 

company,  I  had,  during  the  fever,  the  presence  of  Jesus — the 
blessed,  precious  Jesus  !  and  there  was  none  upon  earth  that 
I  desired  besides  Him.  But  oh,  how  He  has  shown  me  fear- 
ful things  in  my  own  soul !  Since  my  beginning  to  recover,  I 
have  been  in  the  state  well  described  in  the  psalm  of  to-day. 
I  have  seen  great  and  sore  troubles,  but  blessed  be  God  !  they 
came  not  on  me  till  the  fever  was  gone  off.  '  The  Lord  hath 
chastened  me  sore,  but  He  hath  not  given  me  over  unto 
death.' " 

"  To  THE  SAME. — September  29. —  ....  Many  a  time, 
when  my  soul,  like  a  silly  dove  too  long  wandering  abroad,  too 
long  on  the  wing  over  the  flood  of  Divine  wrath,  has  found  its 
way  back  again  to  the  ark  of  safety,  Jesus  has,  with  sweet  con- 
solations and  notices  of  His  blessed  presence,  kept  me  from 
wearying.  I  have  been  dealt  with  by  the  Lord  in  tender  mer- 
cy, and  it  has  been  good  for  me  to  be  afflicted.     The  Lord  has 


SYMPTOMS   OF   CONSUMPTION.  67 

taught  me  that  to  lie  patiently  on  the  bed  of  languishing  is  as 
acceptable  with  Him  as  to  work  zealously  in  His  \ineyard. 
He  has  taught  me  more  than  I  knew  before  of  the  grace  of 
God  the  Father.  He  has  taught  me  more  of  Paul's  meaning 
in  the  words — '  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me.'  He  has 
taught  me  more  of  the  impossibility  of  serving  God  aright  and 
with  joyful ness,  except  from  a  motive  of  love  to  God.  He  has 
taught  me  more  of  the  impossibility  of  my  loving  God,  except 
under  a  conviction  and  firm  belief  of  the  definitive  reality  of 
God's  love  to  me.  He  has  taught  me  more  of  the  holiness — 
more  of  the  freeness — more  of  the  fulness — more  of  the  trust- 
worthiness of  the  gospel — more  of  the  necessity  of  serving  God 
with  fear,  and  of  rejoicing  with  trembling He  has  ena- 
bled me  to  look  up  to  God  with  more  confidence  as  to  a  father. 
*  I  have  sat  under  His  shadow  with  great  delight,  and  His 
fruit  has  been  sweet  to  my  taste,'  He  has  shown  me  more 
clearly  the  evidences  in  my  state  of  mind  of  a  self-righteous 
spirit,  and  shown  me  more  clearly,  likewise,  that  He  is  all  in 

all I  am,  my  dear  friend,  yours  afiectionately  in  the 

Lord,  W.  H.  H." 

The  fever  gave  place  to  a  complaint  more  alarming. 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Grangemuir,  October  23, 
1841. —  ....  I  am  still  vreak  ;  every  new  day  convinces  me 
that  my  almost  shattered  condition  needs  a  longer  season  than 
I  anticipated  of  repose.  To  gather  strength  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry  must  be  for  a  while  my  chief  object  in  living,  next 
to  the  all-important  object  of  learning  to  die  daily.  During 
the  summer  I  have  not  studied  for  myself,  except  by  way  of 
preparing  my  presbyterial  discourses,  and  still  I  am  resolved 
to  abstain  entirely  from  all  avoidable  study.  I  should  rather 
say  I  am  compelled  by  necessity  to  abstain.  The  doctor  tells 
me  that  in  my  present  state  some  other  disease  may  easily, 
without  my  taking  care,  come  in  upon  me,  and  perhaps  provo 


68  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

fatal  ....  Behold,  we  count  them  happy  which  endure  .... 
Your  very  sincere  and  affectionate  friend  in  the  Lord, 

W.  H.  H.» 

The  "  other"  disease  did  appear. 

"To  HIS  Father. — Grangemuir,  Nov.  8,  1841. — Lord 
W and  I,  according  to  his  proposal,  went  over  to  Edin- 
burgh last  week,  and  the  doctors  (Dr.  Henderson  and  Dr. 
Moir)  ascertained  that  there  was  disease  beginning  in  the 
lungs,  though  at  present  not  in  an  active  state  ....  I  am 
forbidden  to  study,  or  do  anything  requiring  effort  for  the  space 
of  a  year  ....  With  love  to  you  all,  and  especially  your  im- 
mortal souls,  and  praying  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  may 
come  forth  from  the  Lord  our  Saviour,  to  sanctify  wholly  you 
and  mother,  and  all  the  family,  I  am,  my  dear  father,  your  very 
affectionate  son,  W.  H.  H." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Grangemuir,  Dec.  11,1841. — 
....  I  am  shut  up  within  house,  except  on  days  when  the  atmos- 
phere is  dry  ....  As  yet  I  am  not  an  evangelist,  and,  till  my 
health  be  in  some  measure  re-established,  it  may  be  a  duty  to 
remain  unlicensed.  I  had  been  asked  to  become  M'Cheyne's 
(of  Dundee)  assistant,  and  glad  would  I  have  been  to  labor  in 
the  vineyard  alongside  of  one  so  eminent  for  zeal  and  godli- 
ness ;  but  the  medical  veto  put  an  insurmountable  barrier  in 
the  way." 

He  had  been  looking  forward  to  the  beginning  of 
1842  as  the  time  when  he  should  be  associated  with 
the  true  yoke-fellow  named  in  the  last  extract.  Again 
and  again  Mr.  M'Cheyne  had  applied  to  him  in  the 
hope  of  securing  him  as  his  assistant,  but  Mr,  Hewitson 
still  was  detained  under  the  preparatory  training. 

Not,  as  before,  in  "  the  spirit  of  bondage,"  but  in 


DIARY.  69 

the  spirit  of  adoption  and  of  liberty,  we  find  him  anew 
consecrating  himself  to  the  Lord : — 

«  Saturday,  December  4,  1841.— On  this  day  I  have  sol- 
emnly, at  the  throne  of  grace,  subscribed  the  everlasting  cove- 
nant of  grace  which  was  entered  into  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world  between  the  Father  and  Son,  persons  of  the  Holy 
Trinity.  I  have  solemnly  engaged,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to 
receive  Christ  as  my  wisdom,  my  righteousness,  my  sanctifica- 
tion,  and  my  redemption.  My  prayer  has  been,  that  the  Fa- 
ther will  set  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  even  the  seal  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  upon  my  heart  As  a  memorial  of  this  engagement,  I 
have  chosen  the  following  Scripture,  which  may  the  Lord  my 
Saviour  hide  in  my  heart,  and  make  the  motto  of  my  future 
life  :  '  I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  ;  and  the  hfe  which  I  now  live  in 
the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me, 
and  gave  himself  for  me.'— (Galatians  ii.  20.) 

W.  H.  Hewitson." 

In  a  note-book  of  this  period  occur  the  following 
jottings.  They  are  interesting  as  indicating  the  godly 
jealousy  wherewith  he  watched  over  his  secret  walk, 
and  also  as  indicating  his  one  steadfast  aim — the  look- 
ing outward  at  the  face  of  God : — 

"  1841.  Saturday,  Dec.  25.— Detected  spirit  of  self-right- 
eousness—Satan in  form  of  an  angel  of  light,  calumniating 
God.  Resolved  to  oppose  such  a  spirit  henceforth  in  God's 
strength. 

«  Sabbath,  Dec.  26.— Communicated  at  Pittenweem  ;  during 
part  of  the  services  enjoyed  sweet  communion  with  Jesus ; 
during  part,  harassed  with  temptations  to  unbelief;  in  the 
evening,  strange  and  painful  hardness  of  heart.  '  The  heart  is 
deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked. 


7U  MEMOIR  OF   KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

"  Monday,  Dec.  2Y. — Hardness  of  heart  still  continued  ; 
occasionally  in  prayer  obtained  relief,  but  all  day  long  tormented 
with  unbelieving  thoughts, — the  cause  of  them  evidently  an 
inordinate  desire  of  enjoying  sensible  comfort. 

"  Tuesday,  Dec.  28. — The  day  brightened  now  and  then 
with  cheering  glimpses  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  the  struggle 
with  temptation  to  doubt  still  to  be  maintained  ;  sore  appre- 
hensions lest  in  a  day  of  hot  trial  I  should  fall  feway  :  God 
forbid ! 

"  Wednesday,  Dec.  29. — Enjoyed  more  peace  in  believing ; 
reflected  that  it  was  as  sinful  to  doubt  God's  willingness  to  save 
me,  as  to  doubt  his  existence. — (Ezek.  xxxfii.  11.)  IIow  good 
is  the  Lord,  who  has  become  partaker  of  my  nature,  that  I 
might  be  made  partaker  of  His  divine  nature  !" 

With  increasing  emphasis  lie  urges  the  paramount 
importance  of  the  outward  looking,  as  the  source  of 
spiritual  health. 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Grangemuir,  January  5, 
1842. —  .  .  .  .  '  0  ye  of  little  fiiith  !'  This  tender  rebuke  is 
administered  to  you — to  me — to  every  one  who  ever  is  oppress- 
ed with  doubt.  If  I  am  sometimes  disturbed  suddenly  with 
the  thought,  '  Surely  I  am  not  yet  born  again  !  Such  hideous 
things  I  still  find  to  have  a  place  in  my  soul !  Are  God's  chil- 
dren— His  really  regenerate  ones — are  they  such  as  I  am  V — 
then  it  is  not  gospel  wisdom  to  brood  over  the  disquieting 
thought, — I  ought  to  flee  for  my  life  to  Jesus,  knowing,  on  the 
authority  of  God's  Word,  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth 
from  all  sin,  and  that  if  I  go  to  Jesus,  He  will  in  no  tvise,  on 
no  account  whatever,  cast  me  out.  Dwelling  with  sorrow  on 
the  sins  which  I  have  committed,  whether  they  be  sins  of  back- 
sliding or  of  some  other  description,  dwelling  on  them,  and  on 
the  apprehensions  which  they  stir  up,  that  I  am  still  in  danger 
of  the  wrath  to  come,  will  never  do  me  any  good — never  set 


HOLY   ATALK.  71 

me  down  on  safe  ground  ;  but  fleeing  to  Christ's  blood  will : 
let  me  dip  myself  in  the  fountain  of  Calvary,  I  am  purged  from 
an  evil  conscience." 

His  was  a  temperament  which  presented  no  ordinary 
barrier  to  this  triumph  of  faith.  He  thus  detects  at 
once  the  peril  and  the  safeguard  : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Grangonuir,  January  26, 1842. 
— Imagination  degrades  us,  and  dishonors  our  Lord,  when  it 
works  as  the  handmaid  of  slavish  fear ;  but  when  it  waits  upon 
hope,  and  scatters  along  her  path  the  amaranthine  flowers  of 
Bible  truth,  it  gives  to  the  Lord  the  glory  due  to  his  feitbful- 
ness,  and  elevates  our  souls  to  that  tone  of  high  spiritual  feel- 
ing which  ought  to  characterize  the  children  of  God.  Those 
whose  imaginations  are  not  lively  and  ever  astir,  know  little, 
experienced  though  they  bo  in  the  hardships  and  adversities 
of  spiritual  life,  what  a  sum  of  peculiar  sufferings  an  imaginative 
temperament  entails  on  its  possessor.  Bunyan  knew  ;  Cowper 
knew  likewise  ;  nor  was  Milton  ignorant  of  these  peculiar  suf- 
ferings. Shakspeare,  had  he  been  a  converted  man,  would 
have  known  them  ;  if  he  was  at  length  a  converted  man,  he 
dicl  know  them  :  the  deep  philosophizing  pathos  of  his  mind, 
impressed  on  many  pages  of  his  works,  and  forming  the  most 
deeply  marked  lineaments  of  his  genius,  shows  that  he  endured 
much  sohtary  suSering,  and  that  often  in  his  moods  of  most 
boisterous  merriment.  Laughter,  indeed,  and  sorrow  are  near 
akin.  It  is  mighty  that  power  of  grace,  which  gives  to  such 
as  are  of  imaginative  temper  much  joy  and  peace  iu  believing." 

"  The  life  of  a  ministry,"  it  has  been  said,  "is  the 
minister's  life."  And  well  it  may.  The  sermon 
preaclies  on  the  Sabbath — the  life  preaches  all  the 
week.     Into  Mr.  Hewitson's  "life"  a  little  glimpse 


72  MEMOIK   OF  REV.   W.   H.    HEWITSON. 

here  opens.  He  refers  to  a  scene  of  so-called  harmless 
amusement  into  which  he  had  accidentally  been 
thrown : — 

^'■January  28,  1842. —  ....  Immediately  afterwards  I 
made  my  escape  with  pleasure.  No  amusement  is  innocent 
which  takes  away  the  soul  from  Jesus,  or  does  what  it  can  to 
take  it  away." 

''February  9,  1842.—  ....  How  often  have  I  fallen  by 
little — apparently  very  little  sins  !  These  very  little  sins  have 
often  bound  my  soul  in  affliction  and  iron  ;  they  have  grown 
up  often  into  awful  bulk  before  the  eye  of  conscience,  and 
covered  all  the  coming  eternity  with  their  shadow  of  death. 
After  such  a  season  of  terror,  amazing  seems  the  long-suflfering 
of  God,  when  at  last  the  rising  Sun  of  Kighteousness  scatters 
the  darkness,  and  effuses  from  his  wings  healing  into  the 
wounded  spirit.  Never  did  any  one  so  try  the  forbearance  of 
God  as  I  have  done.  Oh,  if  He  would  henceforth  ever  keep 
me  from  falling !" 

This  is  not  sanctimoniousness,  but  sanctity.  The 
"perfect  love"  that  cast  out, the  "  fear  which  hath  tor- 
ment" has  brought  in  another  fear — the  fear  of  offend- 
ing so  holy  and  so  gracious  a  Lord.  Hence  the 
"beauty  of  holiness" — not  the  hypocrite's  assumed 
garb,  but  the  real  sanctity — which  now  adorns  him. 
The  life  of  his  ministry  is  indeed  to  be  the  minister's 
life. 

We  next  find  him  adoringly  contemplating  God's 
electing  love : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Grangemuir, February  24, 
1842. — If  I  love  God  in  Christ,  I  am  assuredly  one  of  His 
elect  people,  for  the  fact  of  my  eternal  election  is  the  source 


^  HOLY    AVALK.  73 

whence  the  fact  ot  my  loving  God  originates.  Thus  am  1  en- 
abled to  make  my  calling  and  election  sure :  I  have  only  to 
make  sure  of  the  cognizable  fact  that  I  love  God, — then,  by  an 
inference  of  scriptural  warrant,  I  become  sure  of  the  fact,  not 
directly  cognizable,  that  I  am  elected  and  called  of  the  Father. 
The  scriptural  warrant,  the  seal  of  the  Spirit  alluded  to,  is  di- 
rectly given  (Rom.  viii.  28),  when  God  identifies  the  character 
of  Christians  as  drawn  by  the  description,  '  Them  who  love  God,' 
with  the  character  of  Christians,  as  described  in  the  words, 
'  Them  who  are  the  called  according  to  His  purposes.'  " 

This  consciousness  of  God's  special  electing  love  he 
feels  to  be  the  believer's  sheet-anchor  amidst  the  tem- 
pest.    To  a  deeply  afflicted  disciple  he  writes  : — 

"  Grangemuir,  February  10,  1842. —  ....  From  all  eter- 
nity it  was  the  Father's  will  to  strengthen  you  during  your 
present  trial.  If  an  earthly  king  should  spend  one  whole  hour 
in  prayer  on  my  behalf,  I  should  adore  the  grace  which  had 
melted  his  heart  into  such  tender  brotherly- kindness.  Oh, 
then,  how  amazing  this  love  of  the  King  of  kings,  in  looking 
forward  from  the  depths  of  eternity  upon  my  present  struggle, 
and  purposing  thus  at  length,  when  the  struggle  came,  to  place 
gently  underneath  me  the  everlasting  arm  !  '  Blessed  be  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us 
with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ,  accord- 
ing as  He  hath  chosen  us  in  Him  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world.'  " 

And  the  bearing  of  the  doctrine  on  the  uncon- 
verted ? — 

"  February  10,  1841. — In  the  parched  desert  does  the  thirst- 
ing Arab  hear  in  the  distance  the  Euphrates  pouring  down  its 
sea  of  waters  ?  He  is  a  firm  predestinarian ;  but  he  does  not 
say,  '  Oh,  what  if  these  waters  were  not  destined  ever  to  quench 

4 


74  ME]\IOIK   OF  liEV.    W^.    H.    IIEWITSON. 

my  thirst !'  No,  he  makes  haste — he  comes  to  the  river  briuk — - 
he  drinks,  and  goes  away  refreshed,  while  the  stream  flows  on 
as  full  and  free  as  over.  x\s  the  parched  Arab  to  the 
Euphrates,  so  to  the  '  river  of  the  water  of  life'  come  whosoever 
tdll,  whosoever  thirsteth.  Do  I  feel  my  heart  to  be  as  hard  a5 
the  flinty  rock? — then  I  am  athirst:  this  river  is  flowing  for 
me." 

Whither  shall  he  now  be  led  ?  His  own  longings 
and  the  Lord's  leadings  are  thus  indicated : — 

"To  HIS  Mother. — Grangemuir,  February  9, 1842. —  .... 
My  health  continues  nearly  at  the  same  point ;  occasionally  I 
have  slight  pain  in  the  chest,  directly  above  the  region  of  the 
heart ;  but  no  cough,  no  expectoration.  If  it  be  the  Lord's 
will,  I  should  like  much  to  be  spared  awhile  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry," 

"To Dr.  Moir, Edinburgh. — Grangemuir,  March  14, 1842, 
— Lord  W wishes  me  to  accompany  him  to  Bonn  in  Ger- 
many, and  stay  there  from  the  beginning  of  June  till  the  month 
of  October.  Myself  I  should  be  disinclined  to  go,  if  my  state  of 
health  were  such  as  to  admit  of  my  engaging  in  the  work  of 
an  evangelist.  Now,  dear  sir,  do  you  think  that  my  staying  at 
home  for  the  purpose  of  doing  work  in  the  LorcVs  vineyard 
(were  He  to  give  opportunity)  would  be  a  safe  and  justifiable 
course  in  my  present  state  of  health  ?  I  wish  to  adopt  that 
course  which  may  be  most  for  God's  glory,  but  as  yet  I  have 
obtained  not  a  ray  of  light  to  guide  me  to  a  decision.  Your 
communication  I  shall  regard  as  an  element  of  the  counsel  and 
direction  vouchsafed  to  me  in  this  matter.  A  residence  of  four 
months  in  Germany  would  be  attended  with  some  advantages, 
one  of  which  would  be  the  acquisition  of  the  German  language 
— a  language  which,  //"ever  I  should  think  of  becoming  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  Jews,  it  would  be  important  to  have  in  some 
measure  acquired." 


LICENSE.  75 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — Grangerauir^  April  13, 
1842. — A  week  or  two  since,  I  crossed  the  Frith  to  consult  my 
kind  medical  adviser  in  Edinburgh,  who  told  me  that  the  af- 
fection in  my  lungs  has  made  no  progress  during  winter  (for 
which  God  be  thanked  !),  but  that,  in  my  present  state  of 
health,  I  could  not  engage  in  the  regular  work  of  preaching, 
without  completely  shattering  my  already  debilitated  system, 
till  at  least  a  year  more  has  elapsed.  I  relish  exceedingly  the 
gospel  views  of  Christ  which  your  letter  so  markedly  bring  out, 
and  in  such  broad  contrast  to  the  law  views  of  a  Judaistic 
spirit,  which,  for  want  of  clear  discernment  of  Christ,  pervades 
the  preaching  of  many  even  of  regenerated  ministers." 

On  80th  April  lie  left  Grangemuir  for  Dalmelling- 
ton,  having  now  resolved  on  going  to  Grermany. 

"To  THE  Rev.  J. DoDDs. — Dalmellington^ May  10,  1842. — 
....  I  appeared  before  Ayr  Presbytery  last  Wednesday 
[May  4],  and,  after  reading  all  my  discourees,  or  rather  a  part 
of  each  and  all,  I  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.  Next 
Sabbath  I  shall  very  probably  preach  in  the  forenoon  here. 
Will  you  specially  remember  me  in  prayer  in  connection  with 
this  my  first  appearance  in  the  pulpit  ?  Will  you  pray  that  I 
may  go  forward  to  preach,  not  with  the  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power  2" 

He  preached  his  first  sermon  on  the  following  Sab- 
bath. 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dahnellington^  May  18, 
1842. —  ....  On  Sabbath  I  was,  in  answer  to  prayer, 
strengthened  both  in  body  and  soul :  the  Lord  bless  the  seed 
sown  !  Beyond  the  shedding  of  tears  by  some,  /  know  not  of 
any  effect  produced  :  the  Lord  knoweth — that  is  enough.  The 
exertion   of  preaching,   in  a  church  not  easy  of  command, 


76  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   II.   HEWITSON. 

fatigued  me  somewhat  for  a  time,  but  has  been  followed  by  no 
bad  effects  :  the  Lord  sustained  me  !" 

After  preaching  on  tlie  succeeding  Sabbath,  at  Troon, 
he  set  out  for  Germany,  painfully  feeling  that  "  at 
present  his  strength  was  quite  unequal  to  the  work  of 
preaching  frequently  ;"  but  not  less  trustfully  hoping 
that,  "by  the  grace  of  God,  he  might  be  laying  up  in 
heaven  by  prayer,  and  in  his  own  heart  by  reading  of 
the  Word  and  meditation,  the  elements  of  future 
ministration  in  the  pulpit." 


CHAPTER  V. 

Summer  1842. 

Residence  at  Bonn — German  Society — Tlie   Sabbath  in  Germany — 
Spiritual  Trials — Illness — Return  to  Dalmellington. 

"  I  SAW  Mr.  Hewitson  on  liis  way  to  Germany  the 
other  day,"  wrote  Dr.  Chalmers  on  11th  June,  1842, 
"  and  was  much  pleased  with  the  unction  of  spiritual- 
ity that  savored  his  whole  conversation."  On  6th 
June  he  reached  London — ^his  "  health  better,  by  God's 
mercy,  than  when  he  had  been  in  Edinburgh ;"  and  on 
the  9th  he  sailed  for  the  Ehine.  A  new  and  testing 
scene  now  awaited  him.  The  first  impressions  of  the 
Christian  scholar  are  thus  recorded : — 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Professor  Brandts' — Bonn, 
Germany.  Monday,  June  27,  1842. — .  .  .  .  My  journey  to 
London  was  pleasant.  At  Rotterdam  I  spent  Thursday  night ; 
on  Friday  night  I  slept  at  Emmerich,  about  111  miles  up  the 
Rhine,  and  on  Saturday  evening  reached  Dusseldorf,  where, 
with  my  young  friends,  I  stayed  till  Monday  morning,  "We 
attended  divine  service  in  a  Lutheran  chapel  at  Dusseldorf, 
where  a  Welsh  clergyman  officiated — one  who,  I  suppose,  hap- 
pened to  be  for  a  short  time  on  a  visit  to  that  town.  On  Mon- 
day afternoon  we  reached  Bonn.    We  succeeded  in  arranging 


78  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

to  go  as  boarders  into  the  family  of  Professor  Brandis,  one  of 
the  distinguished  philosophers  of  Germany. 

"  You  have  no  idea  how  much  reason  we  have  to  be  thank- 
ful for  the  privileges  and  the  blessings  which  belong  to  us  as 
Britons,  and  especially  as  Scotchmen.  Scotland  is,  indeed,  as 
compared  with  this  country,  a  highly  favored  land — a  land  of 
valleys,  and  well-springs,  and  fountains  of  water.  This  is  a 
very  Catholic  country,  and  the  Protestant  population,  though 
considerable,  seems  to  be  deeply  tinctured  with  an  evil  spirit  of 
conformity  to  the  prevailing  customs.  The  Sabbath-day  is  not 
to  be  found  here,  or  identified,  except  by  a  small  round  of  cir- 
cumstances— the  suspension  of  some  kinds  of  comnaon  day- 
work — the  going  to  church  once  in  the  day  ;  but  scarcely  any- 
thing besides  that  speaks  of  Sabbatic  sacredness.  The  Roman 
Catholics,  who  greatly  preponderate  in  numbers,  have  their 
shops  all  open,  as  usual ;  and  I  am  afraid  that  not  only  with 
Roman  Catholics,  but  likewise  with  most  of  the  Protestant  pop- 
ulation, the  Sabbath  is  make  a  day  of  physical  recreation  and 
festive  enjoyment.  Even  among  the  reputedly  religious  Prot- 
estants there  is,  so  far  as  my  opportunities  of  observation  go,  a 
prevalence  of  lax  notions,  not  only  with  regard  to  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath,  but  likewise  with  regard  to  the  duty  of 

general  conformity  to  the  world.     Mrs. ,  who,  with  her 

husband,  belongs  to  the  class  of  religious  professors,  makes  a 
practice  of  sewing  on  the  Sabbath  evening  ;  and  this  practice, 
I  fear,  is  generally  prevalent,  of  occupying  that  time  in  secular 
employment,  which  it  is  an  inestimable  privilege  to  have  set 
apart  by  God  for  the  purpose  of  religious  exercise,  and  of  prep- 
aration for  the  Sabbath-day  of  eternity. 

"  To  read  of  such  things  at  a  distance  does  not  bring  them 
close  to  our  minds  as  living  realities,  and  impress  us,  through 
force  of  contrast,  with  sentiments  of  profound  gratitude  to  God, 
who  has,  accoi'ding  to  the  eternal  purpose  of  His  grace,  made 
our  own  land  to  diflfer  so  widely  from  such  lands  as  this.  To 
see  the  difference — to  observe  the  tyrant  power  of  custom  actu- 


THE   SABBATH   IN   GERMANY.  79 

ally  working,  and  carrying  adrift  from  Bible  practices  the  raass 
of  a  population — to  Lear  this  and  that  other  departure  from 
living  godliness  vindicated  on  the  plea  of  custom — general  cus- 
tom,— that  gives  feeling  and  life  to  our  appretensions  of  an  or- 
der of  things  to  which,  happily,  by  the  goodness  of  God,  wo 
ourselves  are  not  subject.  My  remarks  apply  only  to  the  nar- 
row circle  of  my  observations  and  hearsays.  I  ought,  there- 
fore, in  all  fairness,  to  make  them  with  a  caveat  against  the  re- 
ceiving of  them  as  a  description  of  the  general  aspect  of  Ger- 
man society  in  this  neighborhood.  They  may,  however — there 
is  some  reason  to  believe  that  they  do — apply  to  a  far  wider 
range  than  that  of  my  actual  observation,  for  the  mildew  of  ra- 
tionalism has  been  long  on  the  religion  of  Germany." 

With  tlie  paragraph  whicli  follows  the  Christian 
traveller  will  sympathize.  We  see  the  needle  trem- 
bling aside,  but  trembling  steadily  back  again  to  its 
attracting  pole : — 

"  There  is  a  line  in  one  of  the  classic  poets,  to  the  purport, 
that '  he  who  passes  into  a  distant  land  undergoes  a  change, 
not  of  feeling,  of  character,  but  only  of  climate.'  Here,  as  in 
Scotland,  my  enemies  are  keeping  up  against  me  their  old  war- 
fare, and  continuing  to  teach  me  the  lesson  that  the  way  of  life 
is  truly  narrow,  and  that  it  is  a  difficult  achievement  to  be  a 
Christian — to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Holy  Jesus.  Amidst 
the  things  which  we  see,  it  is  not  easy  to  look  away  with  stead- 
fast eyes  to  the  things  unseen  of  eternity.  Amidst  so  many 
little  ends  and  aims  which  we  must  have  while  we  are  in  the 
body,  it  is  no  easy  work  to  shoot  over,  and,  in  all  things,  be- 
yond these,  at  the  great  end  and  aim  of  every  work — God  him- 
self. To  rest  in  God  without  ever  leaving  that  home,  without 
ever  venturing  out  of  doors,  and  away  from  under  the  roof  of 
God's  covenant  love — to  have  our  hearts  balanced  on  God  as 
their  centre,  and  so  balanced  that,  under  the  ruder  touchers  of 


80  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.    H.   HEWITSON. 

temptation,  they  may  be  moved  to  and  fro,  like  the  nicely- 
poised  stones  of  the  Druids,  but,  like  these  stones,  always  re- 
turn again  to  their  rest, — that  is  to  be  blessed  indeed — to  be 
blessed,  like  the  Psalmist,  who  said,  after  some  rough  onset  of 
Satan, '  I  shall  not  be  greathj  moved.'  When  we  have  in  some 
measure  yielded  to  the  impulse  of  carnal  feelings  coming  in 
upon  us  suddenly  like  a  flood,  or  imperceptibly  like  the  stealthy 
fall  of  dew, — and  when  the  good  spirit  of  the  Lord  has  lifted 
up  His  banner,  calling  us  to  come  back  under  the  shadow  of 
its  protection, — and  when  we  have  hastened  back  at  His  call, 
humbled  and  sorrowful,  and  when,  taking  courage  to  look  up 
into  the  face  of  our  heavenly  Father,  we  see  not  the  frown  that 
would  rebuke  us  away,  but  the  smile  that  bids  us  welcome ; — 
Oh,  then  we  find,  by  sweet  experience,  how  blessed  a  thing  it 
is  to  have  God  for  our  habitation,  to  which  we  may  continually 
resort,  and  to  be  able  to  address  our  souls  in  the  language  of 
the  Psalmist,  '  Eeturn  unto  thy  rest,  0  my  soul,  for  the  Lord 
hath  dealt  bountifully  with  thee  :  for  thou  hast  delivered  my 
soul  from  death,  mine  eyes  from  tears,  and  mv  feet  from  fall- 
ing.' " 

The  invalid's  enervated  frame  slowly  recruited  its 
strength.  "I  had  the  pleasure,"  writes  Mr.  T.  Con- 
stable to  Dr.  Moir  on  24th  June,  "  of  seeing  our  friend 
Mr.  Hewitson  in  Bonn  about  ten  days  ago.  He  con- 
siders his  health  much  improved,  but  still  looks  very 
delicate."  The  results  of  further  observation  and  ex- 
perience on  the  new  scene  Mr.  Hewitson  gives  in  a 
later  communication : — 

"To  HIS  Parents. — Bonn,Juli/ 12, 1842. — .  .  .  .The  heat 
has  not  been  greater  than  it  is  in  the  south  of  England.  Some 
days  the  weather  is  very  mild,  and  sometimes  it  is  even  coldish. 
T  agree  apparently  well  with  the  climate,  and  hope  that  my 


SPIRITUAL  TRIALS.  81 

staj'  here  may  have  a  beneficial  effect  on  my  system Re- 

hgion  seems  to  be  here,  even  among  the  best  Protestants,  in  a 
very  backward  and  dull  condition.  Not  only  do  thej  dese- 
crate the  Lord's  day  in  their  practice,  but  they  likewise  at- 
tempt to  defend  the  desecration  of  it  on  the  plea  of  Scripture — 
Scripture  of  course  being  wrested  into  an  accgrdance  with  their 
own  lives  and  liking.  Altogether,  if  parents  who  are  acquaint- 
ed with  the  irreligious  character  of  German  society  send  their 
children  from  Britain  to  be  educated  here,  without  employing 
all  possible  means  of  guarding  their  children's  minds  against 
the  evil  influences  that  are  at  work,  they  take  the  best  way  of 
destroying  the  souls  which  should  be  as  dear  to  them  as  the 
apple  of  the  eye." 

The  letter  wliicli  follows  is  instructive : — 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — Bonn,  July  18,  1842. — 
....  Since  I  left  you,  my  dear  friend,  I  have  had  sharp  con- 
flicts in  the  inner  man — sore  business  in  the  furnace  of  spiritual 
trial.  The  Lord's  goings  are  in  the  dark,  and  hidden  from 
those  who  have  no  pleasure  in  searching  them  out ;  but  His 
secret  is  with  those  who  fear  Him — to  His  people  He  gives 
wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding.  He  has  shown  to  me — 
blessed  be  His  name  ! — the  reason  why  He  smote  me,  and 
gave  me  up  for  a  while  to  the  bufletings  of  Satan.  He  has 
also  shown  me  that  it  is  good  to  suffer  affliction,  and  to  bear 
the  yoke.  During  my  journey,  many  circumstances  combined 
to  prevent  my  regular  approaches  to  the  throne  of  grace ;  and 
for  a  fortnight  I  had,  I  may  say,  no  savor  of  heavenly  things, 
— leanness  came  into  my  soul — I  was  miserable.  Till  now,  I 
never  knew  what  infinite  comfort  there  is  in  the  eternal  decrees 
— the  everlasting  covenant  purposes  of  our  God  and  King. 
Till  now,  I  never  knew  how  much  comfort  is  to  be  found  in 
crucifying  the  self-w^ill  of  the  carnal  mind,  and  lying  pros- 
trate at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Happy  was  the  woman  who  had 
4* 


82  MEMOIR  OP  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

such  access  to  Hiin  that  she  could  wash  His  feet  with  her 
tears,  and  wipe  them  with  the  hair  of  her  head  !" 

"  July  20. — An  unexpected  incident  prevented  me  from 
concluding  my  letter  yesterday.  I  must  let  you  know  what  are 
the  fountains  which  the  Lord  has  opened  up  for  my  refresh- 
ment in  this  place.  Philosophy  is  the  Dagon  of  many  here, 
who,  but  for  it,  might  become  zealous  Christians :  and  I  am 
afraid  that  a  sickly  every-thing-praising  and  every-sort-of -per- 
son-approving sentimentalism  has  too  much  influence  over  others 
in  the  religious  community — if  religious  community  I  may  call 
that  which  is  in  almost  everything  conformed  to  the  surround- 
ing world.  The  emotions  of  a  religiously  affected  imagination, 
how  different  from  the  feelings  of  a  religiously  affected  heart ! 
There  is  a  place  of  worship  here  for  the  English  Episcopalians : 
I  have  attended  it ;  the  ministrations  are  often  very  dry  and 
sapless.  I  have,  however,  become  acquainted  with  a  pious 
family  from  Glasgow.  We  have  commenced  a  prayer-meeting, 
which  is  attended  by  two  families  of  Episcopalians  among  other 
persons.  The  meeting  is  held  on  Sabbath  evenings.  Last 
Sabbath  was  the  day  of  its  commencement.  The  prayer-meet- 
ing is  a  great  source  of  refreshment,  or  rather  a  means  of  bring* 
ing  refreshment  to  the  soul,  from  the  only  source  and  well- 
spring  of  spiritual  blessing,  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  I  do 
not,  therefore,  feel  so  intensely  as  I  did  after  my  first  arrival  in 
Germany,  that  I  am  not  in  Scotland — not  under  the  shadow 
of  Christ's  vine-tree  in  the  covenanting  land  of  my  fathers ;  but 
still,  as  the  unsabbatized  Sunday  comes  round — a  day  trampled 
on  alike  by  Protestants  and  Romanists — I  do  feel,  and  that 
sometimes  painfully,  that  I  am  not  living  in  the  land  of  Sab- 
baths. Alas  for  Sabbath-travelling  in  Scotland !  Germany 
tells  me  that,  if  Scotland  lose  her  Sabbaths,  she  will  lose  along 
with  them  her  religion  and  her  God.  How  is  the  beloved 
Church  of  Scotland  faring  ?  0  that  the  eyes  of  her  enemies 
were  opened  to  see  that  Christ  is  and  must  be  her  only  King ! 
The  Protestant  Church  in  this  province  is  Presbyterian  like- 


SPIErrUAL   TKIALS.  83 

wise  ;  but  it  does  not  hold  many  of  the  great  gospel  principles, 
suck  as  Christ's  kingship  over  the  body  of  the  Church,  which 
characterizes  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  Remember  me  in  prayer, 
for  I  am  weak,  and  often  sore  vexed  in  spirit.  Grace  be  with 
your  soul.     I  am  your  very  affectionate  friend, 

W.  H.  H." 

Himself  '■'•  comforted  of  God,"  how  tender  and  fresli 
tlie  consolation  he  administers  to  a  companion  iu 
tribulation ! — 

'•To  A  FniEND  IN  Edinburgh. — Bonn,  August 6, 1S4:2. — 
....  I  have  been  very  much  grieved  to  learn  that  your  suf- 
fering since  I  left  Scotland  has  been  greater  than  formerly. 
My  dear  friend,  let  patience  have  its  perfect  work.  The  furnace 
is  hot ;  but  Christ  is  with  you  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  not  a 
hair  of  your  head  shall  be  harmed.  It  is  the  portion  of  His 
saints  to  have  evil  things  here,  and  to  be  comforted  hereafter. 
You  go  by  a  ragged  way  of  suffering,  but  always,  as  you  go, 
you  see  the  track  m.arked  out  by  the  blood-drops  of  your  cru- 
cified Lord.  You  are  tried  with  sore  pain  in  the  morning  :  at 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  Christ  was  nailed  to  the  cross.  All 
day  long  you  are  afflicted  with  pain  :  Christ  hung  on  the  ci'oss 
in  an  agony  till  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  '  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,'  and,  amidst  your  sufferings  take  comfort  from 
the  sight  of  His  wounded,  bleeding  body.  The  Lord  give  you 
grace  to  fight  against  all  your  enemies — all  doubts,  and  fear, 
and  unbelief — with  that  sword  of  the  Spirit,  ^  It  is  finished.' 
Since  I  came  here,  God  has  been  very  gracious  to  me,  and  has 
pardoned  me  many  sins,  and  often  made  me  to  cry  out  after 
greater  holiness.  In  this  wilderness  the  Lord  has  prepared 
for  me  a  table  in  the  midst  of  mine  enemies,  and  given  me 
still  more  and  more  to  know  that,  amidst  all  outward  disad- 
vantages. He  is  able  to  make  a  channel  by  which  His  grace 
may  flow  down  into  the  soul.     My  kind  love  to  my  young 


84  MEMOIR   OF   REV,    "IV.    H.    HEWITSON. 

friend  Susan  ;  she  must  be  like  Christ — the  child  Christ  Je- 
sus :  here  is  a  verse  for  her — Luke  ii.  40.  My  health  is  pretty 
good.  I  hope  to  be  the  better  of  the  climate,  God's  grace 
be  with  you  ! — Your  very  true  and  affectionate  friend, 

W.  H.  H." 

Farther  discipline  awaited  liim.  In  the  course  of 
this  month  of  August,  he  was  suddenly  prostrated  by 
an  inflammatory  attack,  which  brought  him  to  the 
very  verge  of  the  grave.     He  writes  : — 

"To  ins  Parents, — Bonn,  September  20,  1842. — I  am 
sorry  for  having  been  so  long  of  writing  to  you.  The  doctor 
has  been  attending  me  almost  daily  till  now  :  the  disease  was 
inflammation  of  the  windpipe,  with  slight  inflammation  in  the 
right  lung.  It  has  been  the  Lord's  will  to  lift  me  again  from 
the  bed  of  languishing,  and  to  enable  me,  though  still  very 
weak,  to  undertake  to  commence  to-morrow  my  homeward  jour- 
ney. You  need  not  be  alarmed  or  anxious  now  on  my  ac- 
count, for  the  symptoms  of  the  disease  have  all  disappeared, 
with  the  exception  of  paiufulness  in  drawing  a  full  and  pro- 
longed inhalation,  and  to  that  the  doctor  (Professor  Alberti) 
who  attended  me  does  not  attach  much  importance.  This  time 
last  year  the  Lord  smote  me ;  again  He  has  laid  on  me  the 
rod  of  chastisement :  this  ought  to  humble  my  soul,  and  lead 
me  to  walk  softly  before  Him,  in  bitterness  and  contrition  of 
spirit,  all  the  days  of  my  life.  I  intend,  if  the  Lord  will,  to  go 
to  Edinburgh,  and  to  spend  a  few  weeks  there  ;  afterwards  to 
>orae  home  to  Dalmellington." 

The  second  half  of  the  letter  is  written  on  his  way 
homeward : — 

"  London^  September  26,  1842. — By  the  good  hand  of  the 
Lord  upon  me,  I  have  been  wonderfully  strengthened  and  up- 
hold under  my  journey  to  London,     God  mercifully  gave  a 


ILLNESS.  86 

very  calm  passage.  I  look  to  Uim  for  a  similar  mercy  on  the 
occasion  of  my  voyage  to  Scotland.  Be  not  at  all  anxious,  for 
I  continue  to  have  all  the  symptoms  of  convalescence." 

The  result  of  a  medical  examination  on  his  arrival 
in  Edinburgh  he  thus  intimates  : — 

"To  HIS  Sister. — Edinburgh,  October  13,  1842. —  .... 
I  still  continue  weak.  I  cannot  walk  more  than  two  or  three 
hundred  yards  without  tottering  of  the  knees.  The  fatigue  of 
my  long  journey  has  now  worn  off,  and  left  me  in  a  state  of 
convalescence,  nearly  such  as  I  was  in  when  I  left  Bonn.  Dr. 
Alberti  at  Bonn  discovered — and,  since  I  came  to  Edinburgh, 
Dr.  Henderson  has  likewise  discovered — that  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  right  lung  has  become  hardened,  or  hepatized, 
since  the  first  detection  of  weakness  in  the  chest.  There  is, 
however,  no  ulceration  as  yet ;  but  the  greatest  care  is  neces- 
sary to  guard  against  colds,  for  I  am  given  to  understand  that 
the  contraction  of  a  cold  might,  in  my  present  state,  easily  bring 
on  ulceration.  Using  the  means  of  healing  recommended,  with 
prayer  for  God's  blessing  on  the  use  of  them,  I  must  submit 
myself  in  patient  resignation  to  His  will :  He  does  all  things  in 
tender  mercy,  and  He  is  able  yet  to  heal  me." 

It  had  been  recommended  that  he  should  repair  that 
winter  to  Madeira.  But  the  Lord's  time  was  not  yet 
come  for  that.  The  alternative  suggested  was,  that 
he  should  "  keep  within  doors  all  winter"  at  Dalmel- 
lington.  To  this  alternative  his  own  inclination 
strongly  leaned.  It  was  adopted.  After  another 
medical  examination,  by  which  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  disease  in  the  lungs  had  made  no  progress  for  two 
months,  he  returned  home  in  the  beginning  of  De- 
cember, 1842. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1842-1844. 

Retirement  at  Dalmellington — Study  of  Prophecy — The  Lord's  Second 
Coming — Rejoicing  in  Hope — Personal  Holiness-'-Health — Views  of 
the  Christian  Life — Madeira. 

"  Solitude,"  it  lias  been  said,  "  made  a  Cincinnatus, 
ripening  tlie  hero  and  tlie  patriot."  In  a  loftier  sense 
was  Mr.  Hewitson  again  taken  into  solitude,  to  be 
ripened,  not  into  a  hero,  but  into  a  meek,  God-trusting 
missionary.  The  process  extends  over  a  period  of 
nearly  two  years.  A  series  of  touches  from  his  own 
expressive  pencil  will  bring  out  the  more  salient  fea- 
tures. 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — DalmeUington,  December 
15,  1842. — Since  I  came  home,  the  time  I  devote  to  reading 
has  been  chiefly  given  to  prayerful  examination  of  the  word  of 
prophecy  regarding  the  blessed  hope  of  the  glorious  appearing 
of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour.  The  result  is,  that  I  am 
fully  convinced  of  the  nearness  of  the  time  when  the  Lord  shall 
come  with  His  saints  to  reign  over  the  earth.  This  conclusion 
I  have  reached,  after  having  been  long  bound  down,  by  pre- 
judice and  inattention  to  God's  prophetic  word,  under  the  yoke 
of  what  I  now  see  to  be  unscriptural  and  ill-founded  opinions. 
The  rest  of  God's  people  is  near  at  hand  :  faint  not  now  that 


PROPHETIC  STUDIES.  87 

you  are  chastened  of  the  Lord  ;  for  yet  a  little  while,  and  the 
enemies  which  you  see  this  day,  you  will  see  no  more  forever. 
Eead,  for  consolation,  Rev.  i.  7 ;  2  Pet.  iii.  14  ;  and  Rev.  vii. 
13-17." 

The  decision  here  intimated  had  not  been  arrived  at 
hastily.  Ere  the  doctrine  of  tlie  Lord's  pre-millennial 
appearing  took  its  place  in  his  creed,  he  had  had,  as 
he  intimates,  not  a  little  to  unlearn.  In  passing 
through.  London  on  his  way  to  Bonn,  lie  had  been 
urged  by  various  friends  to  the  study  of  the  "sure 
word  of  prophecy, "  specially  in  its  bearing  on  the  Ad- 
vent. But,  establislied  in  an  opposite  view — not  in- 
deed as  tlie  result  of  any  careful  Bible  study,  but 
rather  as  a  mere  hereditary  belief — he  had  resented 
the  urgency  with  a  certain  impatience  and  irritation. 
In  his  solitude  at  Bonn,  however,  and  afterwards  at 
Dalmellington,  the  "light  shining  in  the  dark  place" 
had  at  length  attracted  his  eye  ;  and  to  that  "light"  ho 
never  again  ceased  to  feel  tliat  he  "  did  well"  to  "  take 
heed."  "  How  many,"  we  find  him  afterwards  writing, 
"  think  that  prophecy  unfulfilled  is  a  dark  place^  in- 
stead of  looking  to  it  as  to  'a  light  sliiniTig  in  a  dark 
placeP  " 

The  passage  in  the  Bible  which  first  decided  his 
judgment,  he  thus  expounds  : — 

"  To  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Direct  your  attention  to  the  argument 
in  favor  of  the  pre-millennial  advent  of  the  Lord  afforded  in  the 
prophecy  which  he  delivered  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  respecting 


88  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   II.   IIEWITSON. 

the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  '  the  end  of  the  age'  (ro5 
6.i()}vog), 

"In  Luke  xxi.  there  is  contained  a  prediction  (v.  8-22)  of 
what  should  happen  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
(v.  23,  24)  of  the  vengeance  which  should  be  poured  out  on 
the  Jews  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  after- 
wards during  the  interval  that  was  to  elapse  between  that 
event  and  '  the  fulfilment  of  the  times  of  the  Gentiles.'  Jeru- 
salem is  still  *  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,'  for  as  yet  '  the 
times  of  the  Gentiles'  have  not  been  fulfilled.  In  the  two  fol- 
lowing verses  (25,  26)  it  is  predicted  that  the  point  of  time 
fixed  for  the  restoration  of  Jerusalem  and  the  ruin  of  Gentile 
power,  is  to  be  accompanied  or  preceded  by  general  '  distress  of 
nations,'  political  distress,  and  perplexitij — by  '  roaring  of  the 
waves,'  clamor  and  anarchy  of  famished,  ungodly  multitudes — 
by  desponding  fears  and  anxious  expectations — by 'a  shaking 
of  the  power  of  heaven,'  or  convulsion  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
institutions.  'And  then  (v.  27)  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  seen 
coming  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory.'  These  words 
are  quoted  from  the  language  in  which  Daniel  describes  (vii. 
13,  14)  the  destruction  of  the  fourth  beast  or  Roman  mon- 
archy, and  the  solemn  investiture  of  the  Messiah  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  world.  A  similar  quotation  or  allusion  is  made, 
Matt.  xxvi.  64  ;  Acts  i.  9,  11  ;  Rev.  i.  7.  It  has  been  alleged 
by  some  interpreters — on  what  ground  of  analogy,  or  criticism, 
or  sound  judgment,  I  cannot  imagine — that  the  coming  here 
spoken  of  (I  mean  in  Luke)  means  the  coming  of  Titus  to  de- 
stroy Jerusalem.  Against  an  allegation  so  groundless,  I  need 
only  remark,  that  the  coming  of  Titus  to  Jerusalem  was  before 
'  the  great  tribulation  ;'  for  it  was  the  beginning  and  first  cause 
of  '  the  great  tribulation ;'  whereas  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  here  spoken  of,  is  to  take  place  after 
that  tribulation,  as  is  manifest  from  Matt.  xxiv.  29,  30,  and 
Mark  xiii.  24,  26.  Thus,  while  the  analogy  of  scriptural  ex- 
pression, and  the  analogy  (even  more  to  be  attended  to)  of  the 


PROPHETIC   STUDIES.  89 

degree  of  Uterality  in  which,  not  as  man  thinks  prophecy  ought 
to  be  fulfilled,  but  in  which  prophecy  has  hitherto  actually  been 
fulfilled,  go  to  establish  that  '  the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,'  spoken  of  in  the  prediction  referred  to,  is  a 
personal  coming,  the  subsequent  context  in  Luke,  Matthew, 
Mark,  makes  the  fact,  I  think,  indisputable  ;  and  the  time  of 
'  the  coming'  is  '  immediately  after  the  great  tribulation  (Matt, 
xxiv.  29)." 

His  calm  and  prayerful  study  of  tlie  Word  gradual- 
ly evolved,  we  shall  find,  confirmatory  proofs.  One 
occurs  in  the  next  letter  : — 

"To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — Dalmellington,  January  10, 
1843. — I  should  like  you  to  consider  the  following  scriptural 
facts,  and  to  communicate  to  me  your  opinion  as  founded  upon 
them.  In  2  Thess.  ii.  1-8,  the  inspired  apostle  speaks  evidently 
of  the  personal  coming  of  our  Lord.  He  mentions  a  circum- 
stance which  must  precede  that  event  (verse  3),  and  then  a 
circumstance  which  is  to  accompany  or  happen  contempo- 
raneously with  it  (verse  8).  The  former  circumstance  has  al- 
ready, according  to  the  prediction,  taken  place,  and  the  latter 
circumstance — the  one  which  must  synchronize  with  our  Lord's 
coming — is  about  to  be  fulfilled,  at  all  events  will,  without 
shadow  of  doubt  or  controversy,  be  fulfilled  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  '  thousand  years.'  No  one  doubts,  or  can 
doubt,  that  '  the  Man  of  sin'  is  to  be  destroyed  before  the  king- 
dom be  given  '  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.' 
Now,  according  to  the  prophecy  in  question,  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  is  contemporaneous,  or  rather,  in  strict  language,  antece- 
dent, for  it  is  by  the  brightness  {lm(f>avBia)  of  His  coming 
{naqovaiag)  that  the  man  of  sin  is  to  be  destroyed.  I  shall 
expect  your  opinion." 

The  "blessed  hope"  took  its  place  thenceforth,  not 


90  MEMOIR   OF   KEY.    W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

only  in  liis  understanding,  but  in  liis  heart.  He  not 
only  believed  in  tlie  speedy  "  appearing" — he  loved 
it — waited  for  it — watched  for  it.  "  Faith,"  we  find 
him  saying,  "  looks  back  to  the  cross,  and  is  at  peace ; 
it  looks  forward  to  the  crown,  and  pants  for  glory.  O 
to  have  more  of  the  life  and  power  of  such  a  faith!" 
So  mighty  a  motive-power  did  it  become,  that  he  used 
to  speak  of  it  ever  afterwards  as  bringing  with  it  a 
kind  of  second  conversion.  It  is  inwoven  with  the 
texture  of  his  whole  future  life. 

"Love  of  theory,"  he  writes,  "  should  have  no  exist- 
ence in  the  mind  of  a  disciple,  whose  single  aim  is  to 
know  the  mind  of  Christ,  as  it  is  embodied  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Nothing  but  this — ive  have  the  mind  of 
Christ — can  enable  us  to  mould  and  regulate  our 
thoughts  as  we  ought ;  and  prophecy  is  the  only — the 
divinely-appointed — means  of  forming  our  hopes  ac- 
cording to  the  mind  of  Christ.  Our  part,  therefore,  is 
to  be  ever  ready  to  admit  fresh  light  as  it  is  given 
from  above,  and  ever  '  taking  heed  to  the  sure  word 
of  prophecy,'  that  more  light  may  be  given."  His 
attitude,  intellectually  and  spiritually,  in  relation  to 
this  great  theme,  could  not  be  more  graphically  por- 
trayed. 

We  have  a  glimpse  of  the  invalid  that  winter,  given 
by  one  who  visited  him.  "  The  first  time  that  I  met 
and  conversed  with  Mr.  Hewitson,"  writes  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Stevenson  of  Ayr,  "  was  on  the  evening  of  Fri- 
day, 13th  January,  1843.     A  meeting  was  held  that 


REJOICING   IN   HOPE.  91 

evening  m  tlie  parish  churcb.  of  Dalmellington,  witli  a 
view  to  the  approaching  disruption  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland.  After  the  meeting  was  closed,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  deputation — the  Kev.  Dr.  Henderson  of 
Glasgow,  Rev.  Mr.  Dickie  of  Beith,  and  myself— called 
on  Mr.  Hewitson.  I  have  a  vivid  remembrance  of  his 
appearance  that  evening.  His  emaciated  frame,  and 
the  hectic  flush  on  his  cheek,  seemed  to  mark  him  out 
too  plainly  as  destined  to  be  a  victim  of  consumption. 
But  the  ardent  spirit  within  nerved  his  feeble  frame 
with  a  surprising  energy.  His  whole  heart  was  in  our 
movement.  He  spoke  with  great  animation  of  the 
prospects  of  the  Church,  and  the  days  of  darkness 
which  we  might  anticipate  before  the  time  of  millennial 
glory.  We  were  much  struck  with  his  fervency  of 
spirit,  and  left  him,  deeply  regretting  that,  in  the  mys- 
terious providence  of  God,  the  Church  was  apparently 
to  be  so  soon  deprived  of  the  services  of  one  so  re- 
markably qualified  by  his  gifts  and  graces  for  laboring 
successfully  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  For  when 
we  bade  him  farewell,  we  all  beheved  that  his  days  on 
earth  were  numbered  and  nearly  finished,  and  that  we 
should  probably  see  his  face  no  more. 

"  On  the  preceding  Monday,"  continues  Mr.  Steven- 
son, "  I  had  the  high  privilege  of  spending  an  evening 
in  the  company  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Cheyne  of  Dundee. 
It  was  a  night  much  to  be  remembered.  He  was 
looking  forward  with  delight  to  the  precious  opportu- 
nities which  he  should  have  after  the  Disruption  of 


92  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON, 

preaching  the  gospel  without  let  or  hindrance  in  many 
dark  places  of  the  land.  Little  did  I  think  that  his 
race  was  so  nearly  run,  and  that  the  days  of  Mr.  Hew- 
itson  were  to  be  prolonged.  But  the  one,  who  was 
then  so  vigorous,  and  preparing  for  arduous  labors, 
was  soon  after  taken  ;  while  the  other,  whose  recovery 
appeared  hopeless,  was  left,  and  enabled  to  render  sig- 
nal services  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  after  he  had  been 
thus  '  brought  nigh  unto  death.'  " 

Another  member  of  that  deputation  was  not  less 
struck  by  the  buoyant  and  joyful  tone  of  the  invalid. 
Imagining  that  he  was  entering  the  chamber  of  a  dy- 
ing man,  Dr.  Henderson  expected  to  hear  only  of  the 
solemnities  of  death.  Instead  of  this,  his  eye  was  only 
on  the  glories  of  resurrection,  and  the  appearing  of  the 
Son  of  man. 

"We  resume  the  extracts : — 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dalmellington,  January 
12,  1843. —  ....  Shake  off  self-righteous  dependences  and 
legal  fears.  Legality  poisons  faith,  and  neutralizes  its  pacify- 
ing power.  If  I  be  in  Jesus,  then  I  am  pardoned  and  accepted  : 
'  He  is  near  that  justifieth  me  ;  who  will  contend  with  me  ? 
Let  us  stand  together'  before  the  throne  of  God,  at  the  bar  of 
His  infinite  justice.  I  plead  guilty,  but  has  my  adversary 
therefore  a  plea  against  me  ?  I  plead  not  guilty,  for  I  am  i7i 
Jesus,  and  He  has  redeemed  me  from  the  sin  to  which  I  plead- 
ed guilty  before.  My  adversary's  plea  therefore  falls  to  the 
ground,  and  my  faith  in  Jesus  is  counted  to  me  for  righteous- 
ness. If  sin  sometimes  prevail,  I  must  not  indulge  in  legal 
fears,  but  go  closer  to  Jesus,  and  get  more  of  the  Spirit  of  adop- 
tion, that  I  may  be  able  to  work  more  from  a  principle  of  faith 


THE  NIGHT  FAR  SPENT.  93 

and  love,  and  less  from  a  cold,  carnal,  bondage-gendering,  sin- 
multiplying  sense  of  legal  duty." 

"  To  THE  SAME. — February  23, 1843. —  ....  Though  dan- 
gers be  thickening  around  the  walls  of  Zion,  yet  the  bars  of  her 
gates  are  strong,  and  a  bright  prospect  is  breaking  upon  the 
sight  of  God's  elect  people  ; — the  night  is  far  spent,  and  the 
day  is  at  hand.  After  a  brief  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never 
has  been,  and  never  again  will  be,  the  Church  of  Christ  will 
shine  forth  like  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  the  whole  earth  will 
be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  God's  glory.  The  great  and 
terrible  day  of  the  Lord  will  be  attended,  I  fully  beheve,  by  the 
appearing  of  the  Son  of  man  in  His  kingdom,  and  by  the  res- 
urrection of  the  just In  Isaiah  xxvi.  20  the  Holy  Ghost 

gives  a  sweet  and  precious  invitation  to  the  Church,  intimating 
the  approach  of  the  day  of  wrath  ;  then,  verse  21st,  He  de- 
clares, '  For,  behold,  the  Lord  cometh  out  of  His  place  to  pun- 
ish the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  for  their  iniquity,'  &c.  In 
illustration  of  this  last  verse,  will  you  read  Rev.  xix.?  In  the 
following  verse  the  Holy  Spirit  prophesies  vengeance  on  Satan 
(Isa.  xxviii.  1),  of  which  vengeance  the  1st,  2d,  and  3d  verses 
of  Rev.  XX.  more  fully  expound  the  nature  :  then  it  is  declared, 
that  after  the  infliction  upon  Satan  of  this  vengeance,  the  earth 
shall  be  filled  with  universal  holiness, — (Isa.  xxvii.  2,  3,  4,  5,  6.) 
The  last  of  these  verses  (the  6th)  determines  the  precise  time 
referred  to  in  the  prophecy — the  time  when  the  Jews  shall  be 
restored.  '  He  shall  cause  them  that  come  of  Jacob  to  take 
root ;  Israel  shall  blossom  and  bud,'  and  (this  is  again  declared 
to  be  the  consequence  which  shall  follow)  '■fill  the  face  of 
THE  WORLD  with  fruiC  Here,  then,  we  find  prophesied,  in  or- 
der— \st,  The  security  of  God's  elect  people  ;  ^dly,  The  com- 
ing of  Christ ;  ^dly,  The  punishment  of  Satan  ;  4:thly,  The  res- 
toration and  replantation  of  the  Jews  in  a  state  of  holiness  ; 
bthly,  The  universal  blessedness  and  fruitfulness  of  all  the  Gen- 
tile nations." 

"  To  THE  SAME. — April  13, 1843. —  .  .  .  ,  Owing  to  bodily 


94:  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

weakness,  you,  as  well  as  myself,  are  more  exposed  to  the  fiery 
darts  which  Satan  is  ever  seeking  to  cast  through  the  arrow- 
slit  of  imagination  into  the  citadel  of  the  heart — doubts,  fears, 
anxieties,  misgivings,  despondencies — than  if  you  were  enjoy- 
ing vigor  of  bodily  health  and  buoyancy  of  animal  spirits.  In- 
valids, and  especially  those  laboring  under  diseases  which  have 
the  effect  of  depressing  the  mind — an  effect  not  to  be  removed 
wholly  by  anything  but  the  removal  of  the  cause  itself — these 
seem  to  be  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  Redeemer's  army,  set  for- 
ward to  the  endurance  of  greater  spiritual  hardships,  and  to 
more  desperate  encounters  with  the  enemy  of  souls,  than  other 
soldiers  of  the  cross.  But  '  this  is  the  victory  which  overcom- 
eth  the  world,  even  our  faith  ;'  and  our  faith  overcomes  bi/  iden- 
tifying  us  loith  the  Son  of  God.  Faith  stands  in  the  battle- 
field and  cries,  '  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  anointed  Saviour — He 
who  knew  no  sin — was  made  sin  for  me,  and  I  am  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  Him  !'  This  is  at  once  the  armor,  the  war- 
cry,  the  battle,  the  victory,  and  the  triumph.  Resisted  in  this 
gospel  spirit,  Satan  is  turned  to  flight,  and  the  believer  remains 
master  of  the  field  :  he  sits  down,  still  watchful  and  in  arms, 
but  full  of  peace  with  God,  under  the  shadow  of  his  vine, 

Christ's  righteousness Dear  Mr.  M'Cheyne  !  his  death 

loas  a  trying  dispensation." 

Three  days  previously  we  find  liim  writing, — "  Dear 
Mr.  M'Cheyne  !  his  departure  was  a  great  affliction  to 
me,  as  well  as  to  all  who  knew  him.  The  beauty  of 
the  Lord  tvas  upon  /am."  No  wonder  the  news  of  his 
removal  struck  a  chord  in  Mr.  Hewitson's  heart.  "  He 
was  the  likest  to  Robert  M'Cheyne,"  writes  that  holy 
man's  biographer,  "  of  any  I  knew." 

"  One  thing,"  adds  Mr.  Bonar,  "  often  struck  me 
in  Mr.  Ilewitson.     He  seemed  to  have  no  intervals 


MEEKNESS — WHAT   IS   IT?  95 

in  his  communion  with  God — no  gaps.  I  used  to 
feel,  when  with  him,  that  it  was  being  with  one  who 
was  a  vine  ivatered  every  momentJ''  Mr.  Hewitson  in- 
directly depicts  that  marked  characteristic  of  his  life 
thus : — 

"  Many  think  that  God  is  only  to  be  worshipped  upon  their 
knees  in  the  closet,  around  the  family  hearth,  and  in  the  place 
of  public  worship  ;  but,  if  we  think  like  them,  we  shall  not  live 
godly  lives  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  ought  to  worship  God  when- 
ever He  is  present,  and  that  is  always,  at  all  times.  We  ought 
to  worship  Him  wherever  He  is  present,  and  that  is  everywhere, 
in  all  2^lctces.  Whoever  is  in  our  company,  we  ouglit  to  keep 
company  more  with  God  than  with  them.  Whatever  we  say 
to  others,  we  ought  to  say  it  more  to  God  than  to  them.  It  is 
our  privilege,  and  our  calling  as  Christians,  to  strive  by  all 
means  to  keep  up  constant  fellowship  with  God,  and  to  walk  in 
the  light  of  His  countenance.  We  do  so  when,  like  the 
Psalmist,  v.'e  can  say  truly,  '  /  have  set  the  Lord  always  before 

The  following  letter  touches  on  a  favorite  theme — 
the  grace  of  Christ-like  meekness : — 

"  To    ONE    WHO    HAD    BEEN    A    CoLLEGE    FrIEND. JunC  10, 

1843. —  ....  Symptoms,  on  the  whole,  are  improving  ;  and, 
by  the  Lord's  good  hand  upon  me,  I  expect  yet  to  be,  though 
not  immediately,  furnished  with  bodily  strength  enough  to 
preach  the  gospel. 

"The  great  lesson  which  chastisement  is  the  means  of 
teaching  God's  people  is  to  be  '  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,'  that 
is  (for  I  take  meekness  chiefly  to  mean  this),  to  be  in  God's 
hand  as  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  potter — to  will  and  to  work 
only  as  God  will  have  us — to  do  or  to  suffer  just  as  He  thinks 
good — to  '  lie  on  our  face'  before  Him,  like  Abraham  (Gen. 


96  MEMOIR  OF   KEY.   W.   11.    IIEWITSON. 

xvii.  3),  while  God  '  talks  witli  us,'  either  out  of  the  place  of 
thick  darkness,  or  amidst  the  bright  shinings  of  His  counte- 
nance ;  thus  being  in  perfect  subjection  to  His  absolute  sove- 
reignty and  lordship  over  us.  This  is  no  easy  thing  to  do, 
for  this  is  the  perfection  of  holiness  in  man." 

In  the  Lord  Jesus  there  was  a  reality  of  human 
feeling  and  sympathy — an  absence  of  the  transcen- 
dental in  sentiment  and  affection — which  is  often  not 
enough  contemplated.  The  meekness  of  the  "  Holy 
Child"  was  peculiarly  human.  With  that  nice  spir- 
itual discernment  which  so  eminently  characterized 
him,  Mr.  Hewitson  detected  the  grace  in  its  exact 
Christ- like  mould.  The  theoretical  and  the  actual  are 
touchingly  blended  in  what  follows : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dalmellington,  September  8, 
1843. — You  may  easily  suppose  that  I  am  anxious  to  embark 
in  the  ministry  of  God,  for  v?hich  I  have  gone  through  so  long 
a  course  of  academic  preparation,  and  the  duties  of  which  I 
have  been  taught,  I  trust,  in  some  measure,  by  the  Spirit  of 
Jesus,  to  delight  in  ;  but  it  is  my  part  to  humble  myself  under 
the  mighty  hand  of  God,  and  submit  meekly  to  His  dispensa- 
tions, if  these  should  still  be  adverse  to  the  fulfilment  of  my 
desires. 

"  Don't  you  agree  with  me  in  thinking  that  it  savors  of  an 
impracticable  stoicism  to  say,  *  /  desh'e  nothing  but  what  God 
ordains  for  me  ;'  and  that  the  true  characteristic  of  Christian 
meekness  is  to  say,  ^ I desire,W\i  be  possible,  that  this  affliction 
pass  from  me  ;  nevertheless,  heavenly  Father,  not  my  will,  but 
thine  be  done  V  If  we  had  not  even  a  desire  of  freedom  from 
chastisement,  then,  contrary  to  the  declaration  of  Scripture,  all 
affliction  would  seem  to  be  not  grievous  but  joyous,  or  at  least 
indifferent.     Some  time  ago,  I  had  a  kindly  altercation  on  this 


^       WAITING   ON   THE   SPIRIT.  97 

point  with  a  Christian  more  experienced  than  myself  in  the 
ways  of  God,  but  through  a  mistaken  zeal,  as  I  judged,  reso- 
lute in  holding  that  the  Christian  ought,  in  the  strength  of  the 
Lord,  to  realize  and  exemplify,  under  all  afflictive  dispensations, 
the  influence  of  only  one  desire,  that,  namely,  of  glorifying 
God  by  submission  to  His  will.  This  is  what  I  regard  as 
stoicism  ;  but  to  be  influenced  by  that  desire  in  such  a  degree 
as  to — not  certainly  extinguish — ^yet  certainly  triumph  over  the 
opposition  of  every  other,  is  what  I  regard  as  Christianity. 
Don't  you  agree  with  me  in  my  judgment  ?" 

Here  there  is  no  over-drawing,  no  straining.  It  is 
not  man  unhumanized,  but  man  in  the  highest  sense 
Christianized. 

This  "  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit"  became 
daily  the  object  of  an  intenser  longing.  Naturally 
proud  and  self-willed,  he  felt  how  needful  for  that  end 
was  tlie  sharp  discipline  through  which  he  was  pass- 
ing.    He  writes : — 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — Dalmellington,  September 
20,  1843. —  ....  It  is,  as  you  say,  a  blessed  thing  to  have 
our  inmost  thoughts  brought  for  judgment  into  the  light  of 
God's  pure  "Word.  One  mark  of  a  believer's  simplicity  and 
godly  sincerity  is,  that  he  can,  without  reservation,  ofier  up  the 
prayer  to  God,  *  Examine  me,  0  Lord,  and  prore  me ;  try  ray 
reins  and  my  heart.'  ....  The  great  and  deep  spring  of  all 
the  influences  which  work  in  our  souls  against  grace,  and  ren- 
der the  progress  of  sanctification  so  slow,  so  painful,  so  inter- 
rupted with  falls  into  sin,  seems  to  be  that  remaining  guileful- 
ness  of  heart,  that  will  not  let  us,  at  all  times,  on  all  occasions, 
in  all  companies,  submit  ourselves  humbly  to  be  ruled  by  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus.  We  hold  the  Head,  and  yet  we  seek  often  to 
Bpeak,  and  work,  and  perform  duty  in  our  own  strength  ;  we 
5 


98  MEMOIK   OF   KEV.    W.    H.    HEWI'i'SUX. 

do  not  wait  for  the  Spirit — we  make  haste,  hke  unbelievei-s — 
we  are  impatient,  and  go  to  work  too  fast ; — hence  loss  of  com- 
fortable communion  with  the  Spirit,  hence  from  the  Head  we 
have  not  nourishment  so  abundantly  ministered  to  our  souls, 
and,  consequently,  not  receiving  '  the  increase  of  God,'  we  do 
not  increase  in  spiritual  stature.  No  small  part  of  meekness 
lies  in  waiting  on  the  Spirit  for  strength  to  perform  all  our 
works  unto  the  Lord." 

He  came  to  Edinburgli  in  the  end  of  September^ 
and  was  again  examined  medically  The  result  he 
thus  states : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymoxt. —  ....  My  medical  fiiends 
have  declared  the  case  to  be  now  a  favorable  one,  only  de- 
manding great  care  and  delicacy  of  treatment.  To  preach  for 
at  least  six  months  yet  is  out  of  the  question.  The  fact  is,  that 
though  without  injury  to  my  lungs  I  could  preach,  yet  I  have 
not  strength  sufficient  for  the  work.  You  will  guess  the  amount 
of  my  strength  when  I  mention,  that  I  can  walk  about  two 
miles  in  the  day  without  over-fatigue.     This  is  a  considerable 

increase Yesterday  I  worshipped  in  the  co-ngregation 

of  my  old  pastor.  Dr.  Candlish.  The  ministrations  were  of  a 
most  awakening  and  refreshing  kind.  His  preaching  is  better 
suited  to  my  spiritual  condition  than  that  of  any  other  preacher 
I  have  ever  heard  declaring  the  Word  of  God.  I  speak,  of 
course,  in  reference  not  so  much  to  particular  instances,  as  to 
the  general  character  of  suitableness." 

A  visit  which  he  paid  to  his  friend  Mr.  Dodds  in 
October,  the  latter  thus  describes  : — 

"  He  was  now  somewhat  improved  in  health,  but  still  much 
of  an  invalid.  I  shall  draw  from  my  diary  in  relating  the  im- 
pressions he  made  upon  me  at  that  time  : — '  October  1 0. — My 


SIGNS   OF  THE  TIMES.  99 

dear  friend  H.  arrived  to-day  to  pay  us  a  visit.  He  looks  thin 
and  pale,  and  is  very  weak ;  but  his  eye  is  lighted  up  with  the 
fire  of  heavenly  hope.  He  has  recently  been  directing  much 
of  his  attention  to  the  study  of  prophecy,  and  has  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that  our  Lord  will  come  and  reign  upon  the 
earth  before  the  millennium.  He  is  one  of  the  acutest  and 
most  spiritual  expositors  of  Scripture  I  ever  met  with.  He  is 
an  accomplished  scholar.  His  whole  walk  and  conversation 
seem  seasoned  with  the  Spirit  of  his  Master.  We  have  greatly 
enjoyed  his  rich  and  spiritual  converse.  Alas  !  I  fear  that  the 
hand  of  death  is  upon  him.'  At  this  distance  of  time,  what  I 
chiefly  remember  of  this  visit  is  the  great  advance  my  friend 
had  evidently  made  in  spirituality  of  mind,  and  in  acquaintance 
with  the  Word  of  God.  Already  there  was  around  him  that 
fragrance  of  the  divine  life,  that  atmosphere  of  holiness,  which 
ever  afterwards  attended  him,  breathing  more  sweetly,  and 
spreading  more  widely,  till  the  day  of  his  death." 

In  a  letter  of  this  period,  we  find  him  indicating 
his  view  of  the  signs  of  the  times : — 

"To  Dr.  MoiR. — I  don't  know,  my  dear  friend,  whether 
you  sympathize  with  me  in  my  fears,  or  agree  with  me  in  judg- 
ing, from  the  signs  of  the  times,  that  those  prophecies  of  ven- 
geance upon  all  the  Gentile  nations,  which  must  needs  be  ful- 
filled before  a  period  of  universal  blessing  dawn  on  the  world, 
will  have  their  destined  time  of  fulfilment  in  the  present  age ; 
but,  for  my  own  part,  whatever  degree  of  skepticism  on  the 
subject  may  be  occasionally  produced  in  me  by  the  subtle  in- 
fluence of  present  things,  I  am  always  again  aroused  from  it, 
as  from  a  slumber,  by  looking  at  the  progress  of  events  in  the 
light  of  prophecy,  and  constrained  to  pray  that '  we  may  be 
counted  worthy  to  escape  those  things  which  are  coming  to 
pass,  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  man.'  May  we,  like  Ra- 
hab  of  Jericho,  hang  out '  the  scarlet  thread'  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord,  and,  like  her,  be  delivered,  through  foith  in  Jesus, 


100  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

from  '  the  overflowing  scourge,  when  it  passes  through,  that  it 
may  not  come  unto  us.'  " 

After  anotlier  medical  report,  "as  favorable  as  in 
tlie  former  instance,"  lie  once  more  returned  to  Dal- 
mellington,  on  tlie  last  day  of  tlie  year.  Ere  anotlier 
year  closed,  lie  was  to  be  on  his  way  to  tbe  scene  of 
his  future  labors.  A  few  of  the  more  characteristic 
features  we  select  from  the  mass  of  manuscript  before 
us: — 

"To  A  Fkiend  in  Edinburgh. — DalmelUngton,  January 
24,  1844. —  ....  Christ  is  now  our  'life'  and  our  'hope  of 
glory.'  'When  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  likewise  appear 
with  him  in  glory,'  '  To  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God,' 
is  that  which  enables  us  to  '  glory  in  tribulation  also ;'  and  by 
means  of  working  '  patience  and  experience,'  tribulation  leads 
us  to  greater  confidence  of  '  hope.'  '  Now  abide  these  three, 
faith,  hope,  and  love ;'  and  though  '  the  greatest  of  these  be 
love,'  yet,  while  we  are  in  the  wilderness,  faith  and  hope  have 
momentous  functions  to  perform.  "Without  these  three  is  no 
Caleb-like  '  following  of  the  Lord  fully' — no  '  bunches  of  grapes 
from  the  brook  of  Eshcol' — no  earnest  of  the  promised  fulness 
of  blessing — no  Mount  Pisgah  views  of  the  purchased  inherit- 
ance— no  glorifying  of  God,  who  has  promised,  and  is  able  to 
perform.  Faith  and  hope  are  the  Hur  and  Aaron  who  hold 
up  the  hands  of  Moses  in  the  mount  of  prayer,  and  make 
Israel  victorious  over  Amalek." 

"To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — February  1,  1844. —  .... 

My  bodily  health  is  as  usual How  Httle  I  am  like  Jesus, 

who,  when  he  walked  on  earth,  '  was  in  heaven ;'  who,  as  has 
been  beautifully  said,  '  always  repelled  sin,  but  touched  it  at 
every  point !'  We  live  in  a  mephitic  air,  and,  but  for  the  re- 
freshing supplies  of  the  wind  which  blows  from  heaven  upon 
the  soul,  we  should  soon  be  deprived  of  spiritual  sensibility,  if 


THE   LAMB — LORD   OF  ALL.  101 

not  of  spiritual  life Sensitiveness  and  quick-working  im- 
agination are  apt  to  throw  around  the  throne  of  our  Father  in 
heaven,  and  the  presence  of  our  gracious  Lord,  an  atmosphere 
of  feelings  too  much  akin  to  those  which  are  excited  by  un- 
pleasant contact  with  the  world,  or  sometimes  even  with  Chris- 
tian friends.  Such  feelings  form  a  perverting  and  painted 
medium,  which  turns  awry  and  discolors  the  beams  of  light 
and  love  that  come  down  from  *  the  Father  of  lights  and  mer- 
cies,' They  penetrate,  by  a  subtle  influence,  all  our  thoughts 
of  God,  and  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  till  they  subside, 
the  soul  is  cast  down  and  disquieted.  The  only  remedy  is,  I 
find,  simple,  child-like,  believing,  implicit  confidence  in  the 
Word  of  God,  which  is  the  sole  object  of  saving  faith.  To  see 
Christ  our  righteousness,  and  in  Him  our  righteousness  accept- 
ed already  (for  He  is  raised  from  the  dead),  and  glorified  (for 
He  is^at  God's  right  hand), — that  is  a  panacea  for  every  soul- 
disease,  that  gives  comfort  to  our  heart,  and  glory  to  the  grace 
of  God." 

"To  A.  A.  Walker,  Esq. — February  14,  1844. —  .... 
You  have  referred  to  the  4th  and  5th  chapters  of  Revelation  as 
containing  severally  ascriptions  of  praise  to  God  as  Creator  and 
as  Redeemer.  In  the  4th,  He  who  sits  on  the  throne  is  God, 
with  the  rainbow  round  His  head ;  that  is,  God  in  covenant 
with  the  earth — God  in  Christ,  reconciling  man  and  new-creat- 
ing all  things.  He  is  praised  as  Creator.  The  question  is, 
Who  is  worthy  to  undertake,  as  covenant-surety,  and  as  federal 
Head  of  new  creation,  the  work  of  recovering  the  earth,  with 
its  inhabitants,  from  ruin,  and  of  bearing  the  government  upon 
his  shoulders  ?  None  is  found  worthy  but  the  Lamb  ;  and  He 
is  worthy,  because  He  was  slain.  He  is  worthy  to  be  made 
heir  and  lord  of  all — '  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wis- 
dom, and  strength,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  blessing.'  Ac- 
cordingly, in  the  5th  chapter,  He  who  sits  on  the  throne  is 
praised  for  the  Lamb,  the  Head  of  new  creation  ;  and  the  Lamb 
is  praised  for  the  work  of  redemption,  by  performing  which  He 


■*f 


102  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

has  redeemed  His  church  unto  God,  and  redeemed  likewise  the 

lost  creation The  prince  of  this  world  is  already  judged, 

and  condemned  by  the  death  of  Christ,  though  he  be  still  in  an 
attitude  of  rebellion.  Accordingly,  in  the  symbolic  vision  of 
5th  chapter  of  Revelation,  the  Church,  which  is  now  *  in  heaven- 
ly places  in  Christ,'  and  all  the  angels  of  God,  and  all  the  crea- 
tures, are  seen  declaring  the  Lord's  right  and  worthiness  to 
reign.  It  is  when  we  are  in  the  scene  of  the  vision,  in  the 
heavenly  places,  near  the  throne  of  the  Father,  on  which  Jesus 
sits — it  is  when  we  are  there  in  the  spirit  of  faith — that  we  see 
the  right  of  Jesus,  and  hear,  as  it  were,  the  whole  world  lifting 
up  its  voice  to  declare  His  right  to  hold  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment. 

"It  is  a  blessed  thing,  my  dear  friend,  to  be  out  of  this  re- 
bellious world,  and  safe  in  Christ.  Those  who  are  in  the  world 
are  rebels  against  the  King.  Those  who  are  in  Christ  have  a 
warfare  to  wage  against  the  world  and  its  rebellious  prince. 
The  warfare  is  often  hot ;  we  need  God's  armor  always,  and 
all  God's  armor.  There  is  much  evil  daily  manifesting  itself 
within  me ;  I  never  gain  a  victory  over  it  but  when  I  simply 
believe  in  Jesus.  When  we  are  restless  and  impatient,  we 
sink  into  deep  waters.  When  we  lie  in  the  hand  of  Jesus,  as 
clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  we  are  enlarged  and  filled  with 
peace.  The  flesh  within  us  cannot  rest — the  spirit  within  us 
seeks  to  repose  in  the  bosom  of  Jesus.  As  has  been  well  said, 
that  is  '  the  evangelic  posture.' — Your  very  affectionate  brother 
in  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  W.  H." 

"To  Dn.  IsioiR.— February  21,  1844.— 'The  man  of  God' 
keeps  the  vineyard  of  others  best  when  he  has  least  cause  to 
complain  '  Mine  own  vineyard  have  I  not  kept.'  If,  as  the  say- 
ing goes,  '  charity  should  begin  at  home,'  there  is  no  doubt 
that  godliness  should  do  so  likewise.  The  Lord  has  given  me 
a  long  time  for  the  cultivation  of  personal  godliness,  before  it 
has  pleased  Him  to  call  me  to  the  work  of  '  planting  and  water- 
ing' in  His  fields.     Still  I  have  to  mourn  my  barrenness,  the 


THE   GENTILE   CHURCH.  103 

small  measure  of  my  attainments ;  but  I  have  cause  to  thank 
Him  who  has  chastened  me,  for  the  experience  of  Divine 
things  he  has  given  me  during  the  time  of  my  chastisement." 

Solemn  and  suggestive  are  tlie  thouglits  wliich  fol- 
low. They  read  a  lesson  wliich  it  were  well  to  pon- 
der:— 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — February  28,  1844. — Are  these 
not  days  of  Sardian  imperfection — of  lingering  about  the  thresh- 
old, instead  of  '  drawing  near  with  true  hearts  and  full  assur- 
ance of  faith  into  the  Holiest  of  all  V  Do  we  not  feel  lament- 
ably, and  mourn  over,  in  our  own  souls,  the  freezing  influence 
of  that  cold  night  which  has  overtaken  the  churches  ? 

"  The  Church  of  Christ,  as  it  is  visible  in  the  world,  exhibits 
now-a-days  much  of  the  aspect  worn  by  the  nation  of  the  Jews 
in  the  time  of  our  Saviour  :  there  is,  with  an  almost  universal 
profession  of  Christianity,  much  Sadducean  infidelity  and  licen- 
tiousness, as  well  as  much  Pharisaic  display  and  outside-godli- 
ness.  It  is  only  a  few  who,  '  in  the  hope  of  being  like  the 
Lord  at  His  appearing,  are  now  purifying  themselves,  as  He  is 
pure.'  There  has  been  a  great  '  falling  away  from  the  faith,' 
from  the  living,  world-overcoming  faith.  The  nut-shell  of  or- 
thodoxy remains  unbroken,  but  the  kernel  of  vital  godliness 
has  shrunk  almost  into  '  a  thing  of  naught.'  Individual  and 
local  revivals  testify  that  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  has  not  been 
withdrawn  from  the  Church  ;  but  that  gift  was  made  to  the 
Church  as  a  whole,  and  has  not  the  Church  as  a  whole  resist- 
ed, and  grieved,  and  well-nigh  quenched  the  Spirit  ? 

"These  words  are  addressed  to  the  Gentile  Church,  as  a 
body,  and  they  lay  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  expectation  that 
the  Gentile  Church  will  be  employed  in  the  ministry  of  convert- 
ing the  world  :  '  If  God  spared  not  the  natural  branches,  take 
heed  lest  He  also  spare  not  thee.  Behold,  therefore,  the  good- 
ness and  severity  of  God  :  on  them  which  fell,  severity  ;  but 


104  MEMOIR  OF   REV    TiT.   H.   HEWITSON. 

toward  thee,  goodness,  if  thou  continue  in  His  goodness,  other- 
wise thou  also  shah  be  cut  off.''  Has  the  Gentile  Church  con- 
tinued or  not  in  the  goodness  of  God  ?  The  words  quoted  tell 
how  much  depends  on  the  answer  to  this  question.  The  ban- 
ner of  Protestantism,  which  at  the  Reformation  from  apostasy 
was  lifted  up  on  behalf  of  the  abandoned  faith,  had  too  legibly 
blazoned  on  it  the  humbling  confession,  that  the  Gentile 
Church  had  not  '  continued  in  the  goodness  of  God,'  but '  fall- 
en by  unbelief.'  Is  there  hope,  nerertheless,  that  because  of 
the  Protestant  Reformation  the  sentence — &noro/niu  (cutting 
off) — will  be  suspended  ?  The  question  finds  its  emphatic  an- 
swer in  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  Josiah.  Josiah  was  the  Luther 
of  the  Jewish  Church :  his  reign  was  the  era  of,  by  analogy,  a 
Protestant  Reformation  :  he  brought  to  light  the  Word  of  God^ 
after  a  long  period  of  entombment :  he  read  publicly  the  Book 
of  the  Covenant,  and  made  a  covenant  to  walk  after  the  Lord 
■with  his  whole  heart.  But  did  this  avert  the  judgment  which 
had  already  been  incurred  by  apostasy?  2  Kings  xxiii.  26, 
27  contains  the  sentence  of  the  Lord.  But  *if  the  foundations 
be  destroyed,  what  shall  the  righteous  do  V  '  Wait  for  the 
consolation  of  Israel,  and  enter  into  their  chambers  till  the  in- 
dignation be  overpast'  Do  you  agree  with  me  in  these 
views  3" 

There  is  profound  Christian  philosophy  in  the 
following  extract.  It  is  a  specimen  of  his  skill  in  the 
application  of  his  taste  for  metaphysics  to  the  solution 
of  a  problem  with  which  the  Christian  invalid  is 
often  called  to  deal : — 

"To  A  Feiend  in  Edinburgh. — March  28,  1844. — .  .  .  . 
Wonderful  is  the  reciprocation  of  influence  that  is  constantly 
passing  between  the  mental  and  material  parts  of  our  nature. 
Body  and  soul  at  all  times  mutually  sympathiee.  The  Chris- 
tian should  not  forget  this.     So  long  as  Job  was  in  a  state  of 


"PEAY  WITHOUT  CEASING."  105 

bodily  health,  his  soul  was  as  cloudless  as  the  sky  above  him, 
and  Satan  could  not  find  any  door  of  entrance  for  his  blasphe- 
mous suggestions  ;  but  whenever  Job's  body  became  the  prey 
of  disease,  then  '  the  thing  which  he  greatly  feared  came  upon 
him,' — then  his  soul  was  laid  bare  to  the  assaults  of  the  wick- 
ed one,  and  his  spiritual  conflicts  became  so  desperate,  that  'his 
roarings  were  poured  out  like  the  waters.'  The  reason  of  our 
being  spiritually  depressed,  in  consequence  of  such  a  bodily  con- 
dition, is,  that  whatever  anxious  or  melancholy  feeling  is  exci- 
ted in  our  minds  by  any  foreign  cause  so  affects  the  mind  as  to 
bring  all  our  thoughts  and  affections  into  a  congenial  mood ; 
and  then  we  naturally  imagine  that  we  have  undergone  some 
change  for  the  worse  in  regard  to  spiritual  objects,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  our  spiritual  affections  have  become  so  sadly 
changed;  whereas  the  original  cause  of  change  lies  wholly 
without  the  soul,  in  something  not  at  all  connected  with 
spiritual  things When  we  are  depressed  by  bodily  dis- 
ease, we  should  endeavor  to  occupy  our  thoughts  with  the 
most  joy-inspiring  portions  of  Scripture,  and  not  suffer  them 
for  a  moment  to  brood  over  the  gloomy  feelings  that  prevail 
within.  If  ever  we  should  look  away  from  ourselves,  it  is  when 
we  are  cast  down  and  disquieted ;  for  in  ourselves  there  is  noth- 
ing but  what  will,  if  looked  at,  serve  to  deepen  our  distress,  and 
to  make  us  sink  from  disquietude  into  despondency." 

A  toucliing  feature  of  Mr.  Hewitson's  spiritual  life 
is  indicated  in  tlie  next  extract.  The  words  may  be 
taken  as  a  transcript  of  his  own  daily  walk.  Like  the 
man  in  the  "  picture,"  his  "  eye  was  lifted  up  to  heav- 
en." 

"To  A  Friend  ik  Edinburgh. — ^ifay  21,1844. — .  ...  As 
the  bee  is  ever  on  the  wing  between  the  flowers  and  its  honey- 
cells,  so  should  our  affections  ever  be  going  forth  in  prayer  to 
God  without,  and  returning  to  God  within.     In  our  mutual 

5* 


106  J[El\rOIR   OF   REV.   W.   II.   HEWITSON. 

intorcourso  and  conversation — amidst  all  the  busiest  scenes  of 
our  pilgrimage — we  may  be  moving  to  and  fro  on  the  rapid 
river  of  prayer,  of  mental  prayer — that  prnyer  which  lays  the 
whole  burden  of  the  heart  on  a  single  sigh.  A  sigh  breathed 
in  the  spirit,  though  inaudible  to  all  around  us  but  God,  may 
sanctify  every  conversation,  every  event  in  the  history  of  the 
day.  Wo  must  have  fellowship  at  all  times  either  with  '  the 
spirit  of  the  world'  or  with  '  the  Spirit  of  God.'  There  is  no 
neutral  ground  between  fleshlinoss  and  spirituality  of  mind. 
There  is  greater  need,  therefore,  of  watchfulness  and  prayer,  if 
we  would  '  keep  ourselves  so  that  the  wicked  one  may  touch  us 
not.' 

"  Prayer  will  be  fatiguing  to  flesh  and  blood,  if  uttered  aloud 
and  sustained  long.  Oral  prayer,  and  prayer  mentally  ordered 
in  words,  though  not  uttered  aloud,  no  believer  can  engage  in 
without  ceasing ;  but  there  is  an  undercurrent  of  prayer  that 
may  run  continually  under  the  stream  of  our  thoughts,  and 
never  weary  us.  Such  prayer  is  the  silent  breathing  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  who  dwells  in  our  hearts  {fide  Rom.  viii.  9,  and 
1  Cor.  iii.  IG) :  it  is  the  temper  and  habit  of  the  spiritual  mind: 
it  is  the  pulse  of  *  our  life,  tcliich  is  hid  tcith  Christ  in  God :' 
it  is  the  eonscious))ess  of  '  the  Divine  nature'  communicated  to 
us  in  regeneration.  Prayer  of  this  kind  may  bo  breathed 
*  without  ceasing.'  I  am  convinced  that  the  spirit  of  such  men- 
tal prayer  alone  can  maintain  in  our  souls  an  tininterrupted 
'assurance  of  hope,'  and  give  us  to  enjoy  ioibroken  'fellowship 
with  the  Father  and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.'  It  alone  can 
secure  to  us  the  enjoyment  of  liberty,  power,  and  holiness. 

"  It  is  an  unprofitable  thing  to  hunt  after  frames  and  feeling's : 
these  are  very  good  and  precious,  but  they  are  only  creatures 
— not  God  himself,  but  only  God's  work.  The  stiple  of  spii"- 
itual  life  and  godliness  consists  in  a  sense,  ever-abiding,  of  our 
dependetve  upon  God's  indwelling  Spirit,  combined  with  a 
prayerful  panting  of  soul  atler  larger  and  larger  manifestations 
of  the  Spirit  within  us.     Wo  tarry  on  the  threshold  of  our 


THE  EVANGELICAL   UNION.  107 

most  holy  faith,  until  we  enter  into  Jesus,  and  live  upon  His 
breath.''^ 

At  the  close  of  this  letter  lie  adds : — 

"  Are  you  aware  that  Mr.  Morison  of  Kilmarnock,  &c.,  have 
formed  themselves  into  a  new  communion,  denominated  the 
Evangelical  Union  ?  They  are  running  headlong  into  all  the 
errors  of  Pelagianism.  How  subtle  the  workings  of  Satan  are 
in  our  day  !  We  have  all  need  to  watch  and  pray,  and  sit  at 
Christ's  feet  with  the  Bible  in  our  hands.  According  to  Pu- 
seyism,  a  human  priesthood  gives  saving  faith  to  man  ;  accord- 
ing to  the  Pelagianism  of  the  Evangelical  Union,  men  give 
saving  faith  to  themselves.  All  the  errors  and  heresies  of  this 
day  aim  at  the  dethronement  of  God  from  Ilis  eternal  sove- 
reignty— of  the  Son  of  man  from  Ills  mediatorial  dominion — 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  His  place  as  Deputy  of  Christ  in  the 
hearts  of  His  believing  people.  A  subtle  Atheism  pervades 
them  all.  I  am  not  accusing  Mr.  Morison,  but  I  am  express- 
ing my  own  deep-seated  conviction  as  to  the  nature  and  ten- 
dency of  the  opinions  in  which  he  participates." 

The  heresy  here  referred  to  he  used  often  to  lament 
and  condemn.  "  Calvinism,"  he  said  on  one  occasion, 
"is,  ' Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  on  earth,  peace  ; 
good- will  towards  men :'  Morisonianism  is,  '  Glory  to 
men  in  the  highest ;  on  earth,  peace  ;  good- will  towards 
God.'" 

In  the  beginning  of  August,  he  returned  to  Edin- 
burgh, and  was  again  examined  by  his  physician. 
Though  the  disease  in  the  lungs  did  not  appear  to 
have  been  making  progress,  there  was  discovered  a 
tendency  to  ulceration,  rendering  still  dangerous  any 
attempt  to  preach. 


108  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSOJr. 

Various  plans  for  the  future  were  now  suggested. 
One  of  these  he  notices  thus  : — 

"To  A.  A.  Walker,  Esq. — Edinburgh,  September  30, 
1844, — ....  There  is  a  probability  of  my  going  out  to  the 
south  of  France,  and  afterwards  to  other  places  along  or  on  the 
Mediterranean,  in  connection  with  several  of  the  Foreign  and 
Missionary  Schemes  of  the  Free  Church.  My  object  will  be, 
if  the  Lord  call  me  to  go  forth  to  the  work,  to  make  inquiries, 
in  some  places,  as  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  breth- 
ren ;  and  in  other  places,  as  the  Lord  enables  me,  to  encourage 
by  means  of  sympathy  and  fellowship  those  who  are,  amidst 
difficulties,  engaged  in  the  good  work  of  the  Lord.  If  I  go,  I 
shall  have  to  leave  this  in  about  nine  or  ten  days." 

But  another  work  awaited  him : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  John  Baillie. — Edinburgh,  October  15, 
1844. — ^This  morning  I  met  Dr.  Candlish  and  Mr.  Sym,  ex- 
pecting to  be  able  afterwards  to  leave  this  for  France,  at  my 
earliest  convenience.  It  has  been  suggested,  however,  by  Mr. 
Sym,  that  it  would  be  of  much  more  consequence  to  go  out  to 
Madeira,  than  to  Malta  or  any  of  the  other  places  formerly 
mentioned.  It  is,  I  understand,  at  present  most  desirable  that 
a  minister  should  be  sent  out  to  Madeira  to  acquire  the  Portu- 
guese language  (which  one  might  acquire  so  as  to  be  able  to 
preach  in  it  in  the  course  of  a  year),  with  the  view  of  preaching 
the  gospel  to  the  poor  Portuguese  in  the  island.  During  the 
year  which  would  be  spent  in  doing  nothing  but  acquiring  the 
language,  n>y  health  might  be  so  far  recruited,  by  the  blessing 
of  God  on  the  change  of  air,  as  to  enable  me  afterwards  to  la- 
bor in  that  part  of  the  vineyard.  Doubtless,  it  would  be  more 
consonant  to  my  natural  wishes  to  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
at  home  ;  but  if,  in  a  way  so  unexpected,  the  Lord  be  pleased 
to  say,  '  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles,'  it  is  my 


MADEIRA.  109 

part  to  deny  myself  through  His  grace,  and  to  take  up  my 
cross  and  go.  Madeira  is  at  present  the  forlorn  hope  of  Chris- 
tianity. There,  more  than  anywhere  else  in  our  day  has 
Popery  breathed  its  natural  element  of  intolerance  and  perse- 
cution." 

"  Be  not  afraid,  for  I  am  witk  thee,"  said  tlie  Lord 
to  Paul  by  niglit  in  a  vision,  "  and  no  man  shall  set 
on  thee  to  hurt  thee  ;  for  I  have  much  people  in  this 
city."  The  same  Lord  was  now  beckoning  Mr.  Hew- 
itson  to  a  scene  where  also  He  had  "  much  people." 
Shall  the  disciple  hesitate  ? 

"  To  HIS  Parents. — Edinburgh,  October  17, 1844. — .... 
During  the  last  two  or  three  weeks  I  have  been  led  by  the 
Lord  in  a  way  which  I  knew  not,  and  all  along  I  have  followed 
just  as  I  was  led.  Without  acting  contrary  to  my  feelings  as 
to  what  the  Lord  would  have  me  to  do,  I  cannot  but  consent 
to  the  change  of  my  destination  which  has  been  proposed.  I 
have  intimated  my  willingness  to  go  to  Madeira,  if  the  Com- 
mittee think  it  proper  to  send  out  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  into 
that  field.  It  is  my  duty,  if  I  be  a  servant  of  the  Lord  at  all, 
to  say,  *  Lord  here  am  I ;  send  me.' " 


CHAPTER  VIL 

1844. 

Ordination — Leaving  Home — Arrival  in  London. 

"  1  HAVE  not  sent  these  proplaets,  yet  they  ran :  I 
have  not  spoken  to  them,  yet  they  prophesied."  "  T 
sent  them  not,  nor  commanded  them  ;  therefore  they 
shall  not  profit  this  people  at  all,  saith  the  Lord." 

Mr.  Hewitson  did  not  venture  to  run  unsent.  "  My 
studies  at  college, "  we  find  hi'm  writing  on  9th  Febru- 
ary, 1842,  "  are  all  vain  and  unprofitable,  unless  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  purify  my  heart,  and  make  me  zealous 
to  promote  God's  glory,  and  to  gather  fruit — the  fruit 
of  immortal  souls — unto  life  eternal."  And  again  : 
"  I  wish  you  would  all  pray  that,  in  the  grace  of  God, 
I  may  be  fitted  to  be  a  minister  of  reconciliation,  and 
be  called  inwardly  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  sacred 
ofl&ce.  Without  that  spiritual  call  I  could  not,  durst 
not,  accept  a  presentation  to  any  parish.  It  would  be 
trifling  with  my  own  soul  dnd  the  souls  of  hundreds." 

What  ministry  can  prosper  which  is  without  this 
indispensable  element? 


OEDINATION.  lU 

"  The  blind  at  an  easel,  the  palsied  with  a  graver,  the  halt  making  for 

the  goal. 
The  deaf  ear  tuning  psaltery,  the  stammerer  discoui'sing  eloquence, — 
What-  -wonder  if  all  fail  ?" 

If  at  times,  in  His  mysterious  sovereignty,  the  Master 
have  "used  in  His  work  those  who  ran  nnsent,  Mr. 
Hewitson  was  not  the  man  to  covet  the  sad  distinction. 
"Blessed  be  God,"  said  Henry  Martyn  on  one  occa- 
sion, "  I  feel  myself  to  be  His  minister."  To  go  forth 
as  "  His  minister" — to  beseech  men  in  Christ's  stead 
to  be  reconciled  to  God — was  the  one  object  for  which 
Mr.  Hewitson  cared  to  live.  On  preaching  his  first 
sermon,  already  noticed,  he  had  thus  v/ritten : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — Dalmellington,  May  19, 
1842. — The  Lord  strengthened  me  graciously  for  the  work, 
both  in  soul  and  body.  O  that  He  may  endue  me  with  power 
from  on  high  to  lift  up  my  voice  like  a  trumpet  in  proclaiming 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  His  free  salvation !  You  are  acquaint- 
ed with  Luther's  wise  and  beautiful  apophthegm — '  Bene  jvc- 
casse,  bene  studuisse.''  The  most  successful  preachers  of  the 
gospel  have  always  been  distinguished  as  men  of  earnest  prayer. 
In  analyzing  the  power  of  Whitefield  as  a  preacher,  his  biog- 
rapher states  his  prayerfulness  as  the  leading  element,  and 
finely  remarks,  that  he  always  came  down  from  the  throne  of 
grace  with  the  tidings  of  salvation,  like  the  angel  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse, having  a  rainbow  round  his  head.  Do  you  know 
William  C.  B ?     He  is  a  most  prayerful  man^ 

And  again,  about  the  same  period : — 

"To  Dr.  Marsden. — My  desire  is  not  merely  to  have 
spiritual  strength,  '  ere  I  go  hence  and  be  no  more,'  but  like- 


112  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON". 

wise  to  labor,  by  the  grace  of  God,  were  it  but  a  few  years,  in 
the  gospel  ministry.  '  To  me  to  hve  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is 
gain  ;'  my  greatest  wish  is  to  be  able  to  join  Paul  in  the  use 
of  this  heavenly  expression  of  evangelistic  zeal.  To  be  able  to 
do  that  is  the  highest  qualification — '  the  one  thing  needful,' — 
for  success  in  the  ministerial  office." 

At  a  later  period  we  find  him  writing : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — July  9,  1844. — It  is  an  awful 
thing  to  preach  the  gospel  to  hell-bound  souls.  No  wonder 
that  Paul  was  with  his  hearers  *  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and 
in  much  trembling.'  An  impenitent  sinner,  on  his  death-bed, 
beginning  to  feel,  in  the  first  pangs  of  eternal  agony,  '  /  am  a 
lost  soul,''  is  a^sight  which  ought  to  stimulate  zeal  and  efibrt  in 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  for  such  a  sight  will  be  presented 
ere  long  by  every  one  who  hears  the  gospel  preached  and  is 
not  converted  by  the  gospel  unto  God.  How  precious  the 
soul  which  can  be  the  subject  of  that  feeling  of  unutterable 
agony — '  /  am  lost  P  How  precious,  therefore,  the  gospel ! 
And  how  precious  the  gospel-ministry  !  My  eyes  are  scarcely 
open  yet  to  see  these  things  as  I  ought  to  see  them,  or  my 
heart  to  feel  them  as  they  should  be  felt." 

And  now  that  he  is  about  to  be  "  thrust  by  the 
Lord  into  His  harvest,"  how  simple  and  self-denying 
is  his  faith  !  Before  setting  out  for  Maderia,  it  had 
been  deemed  desirable  that  he  should  be  ordained. 
On  the  day  following  the  event  he  again  writes  : — 

"To  ms  Parents. — Edinburgh,  November  7,1844. — Yes- 
terday was  a  solemn  day — one  ever  to  be  remembered.  I  was 
ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  (Free  Church  of 
Scotland).  Mr.  Grey  presided  at  the  ordination.  I  trust  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  presided  over  all,  and  ordained  me  '  to  go  and 


LEAVING   HOME.  113 

bring  forth  fruit  that  shall  remain'  unto  eternal  life.  He  him- 
self could  say,  '  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  has  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,'  &c. 
May  these  words  be  in  some,  and  that  a  large  measure,  appli- 
cable to  me  as  to  one  chosen  and  '  separated  unto  the  gospel 
of  God !' " 

And  to  anotlier  he  adds : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dalmellington,  October  9, 1844. — 
If  we  commit  our  way  to  the  Lord,  we  shall  find  friends  of 
His  providing  at  every  step  of  our  progress.  The  disciple  of 
Jesus  who  forsakes  all  to  follow  Him,  has  the  promise  of  father 
and  mother,  and  friends,  and  all  things,  even  in  this  present 
time. 

"  I  go  forth,  not  knowing  but  that,  ere  I  can  return,  the 
Lord  will  appear  in  His  glory.  He  may,  and  He  may  not ; 
but  as  the  day  and  the  hour  is  uncertain,  there  is  need  of 
attending  to  His  call  to  watchfulness  and  preparation.  The 
hope  of  His  coming  is  not '  a  blessed  hope,'  unless  we  have 
peace  of  conscience  and  some  measure  of  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Old  Adam,  in  our  hearts,  puts  away  from  him,  with 
fear  and  dislike,  the  thought  of  Christ's  coming.  But  the 
spirit  in  us,  which  is  born  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bounds  with  joy, 
like  tfie  unborn  Baptist  in  his  mother's  womb,  at  the  hope  of 
the  Lord's  appearing." 

The  sphere  of  labor  to  which  he  had  been  designa- 
ted was  one  of  no  common  periL  Without  any 
hyperbole,  as  the  reader  will  by  and  by  discover,  was 
it  styled  by  him  "  the  forlorn  hope  of  Christianity." 
Yet  he  only  seemed  quickened  by  the  trying  emer- 
gency into  new  zeal  and  boldness.    He  writes  : — 

"To  A.  A.  Walker, Esq. — Dalmellington,  N^ovember  16, 


114  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   UEWITSON. 

1844. — Oh,  my  dear  brother  in  the  Lord,  pray  for  me,  that  I 
may  be  kept  from  evil  by  our  gracious  Lord !  I  go  out  to 
Portugal  in  a  missionary  capacity,  and  may  have  much  to  try 
me  and  to  put  my  faith  to  the  proof.  At  present  there  are 
shut  up  in  Maderia-prison  no  fev^er  than  twenty-six  dear  children 
of  God,  who  have  been  converted  through  means  of  Dr.  Kalley 
— all  Portuguese,  and  of  course,  Roman  Catholics  before  they 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Their  only  crime  is 
that  they  read  and  believe  the  Word  of  God.  Popery  is  im- 
placable— as  blood-thirsty  as  ever,  if  it  had  the  power.  This 
is  truly  an  age  of  tribulation  to  the  saints.  '  All  who  live 
godly  in  Christ  Jesus  must  suffer  persecution ;'  but  '  if  we 
suffer  with  Him,  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him.'  0  that  I 
could  realize  this  more,  and  live,  through  the  Spirit,  in  constant 
'  waiting  for  the  Jiope  of  righteousness  by  faith  !'  '  The  time 
is  short ;  the  day  is  at  hand.'  Wishing  you  all  joy  in  believing, 
I  am  your  affectionate  brother  in  Jesus,  W.  H." 

An  incautious  announcement,  in  a  public  paper,  of 
his  designation  as  missionary  to  the  Portuguese  of 
Maderia,  rendered  it  advisable  that,  instead  of  pro- 
ceeding direct  to  that  island,  he  should  go  in  the  first 
instance  to  Lisbon.  This  step,  it  will  be  seen^was 
overruled  by  the  Lord  for  a  not  unimportant  end. 

"  Every  wheel  in  the  chariot,"  writes  Martyn,  "  must 
be  in  motion,  to  gain  the  race,"  Mr.  Hewitson's 
chariot- wheels  were  now  all  in  motion.  A  few  ex- 
tracts from  letters  written  by  him  as  he  was  setting 
out,  indicate  his  state  of  mind. 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  DoDDS. — London,  Novemler  2Q,1S4:4:. — 
Pray  for  me,  for  now  I  am  beginning,  more  than  ever,  to  feel 
my  utter  helplessness.     Friends,  relations,  home,  are  all  left 


SETTING   OUT.  115 

behind.  Whether  I  may  ever  visit  them  again  is  uncertain. 
This  is  trying  to  flesh  and  blood.  In  the  object,  again,  which 
I  have  in  view,  there  is  nothing  which  is  pleasing  to  the  natural 
man.  Now  I  need  to  find  my  all  in  Christ,  If  He  be  not 
now  all  my  portion,  then  I  am  truly  destitute.  But  in  Him 
there  is  more  than  enough  to  compensate  every  loss  and  sacrifice. 
O  for  more  grace  to  live  in  Christ,  on  Christ,  with  Christ !" 

^'■London,  November  2*7,  1844. — My  dear  Dr.  Moir, — 
Before  leaving  England  I  write  to  say  Farewell !  and  to  thank 
you  for  all  your  past  acts  of  kindness.  The  Lord  reward  you 
for  them  all !  As  you  have  ministered  to  the  re-establishment 
of  my  bodily  health,  so  may  the  Lord  grant  that  your  spiritual 
health  be  fully  established !  May  His  stripes  be  healing.  His 
death  be  life  to  your  soul !  ....  I  find  my  present  position 
trying  to  my  faith.  Thrown  abroad  from  all  home-sympathies, 
and  influences,  I  have  nothing  but  grace  to  lean  on,  none  but 
Christ  to  look  to." 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — London,  November  27, 
1844. — .  ...  I  have  been  so  busily  occupied  that  I  have  not 
yet  felt,  in  all  its  pressure,  the  peculiarity  of  my  present  position. 
For  a  moment,  now  and  then,  there  has  been  a  gush  of  feeling, 
such  as  I  perhaps  never  realized  before.  The  thought  is  yet 
strange  to  me,  that  I  have  left  all  dear  to  me  in  this  world,  per- 
haps never  to  see  them  in  this  world  again.  To-morrow  I  expect 
to  be  more  free  to  bethink  myself,  and  to  feel  that  I  am  indeed 
now  all  alone  with  God.  O  that,  with  all  dear  to  me,  I  could 
leave  behind  also  everything  hateful  and  unholy  !  If  I  could  leave 
self  and  sin  behind  !  O  the  body  of  this  death  !  Indwelling  sin 
is  indwelling  torture.  To  be  all  for  God,  all  in  God — Oh,  when  ?" 

His  friends,  as  tliey  bade  farewell  to  tlie  exhausted 
invalid,  feared  that  his  foreign  sojourn  was  only  to 
smooth  his  passage  to  the  grave.  He  himself,  in  spite 
of  all  appearances,  " hoped  against  hope."  And  sig- 
nally was  the  Lord  to  honor  His  trusting  servant. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1841-1844. 

State  of  the  Church  of  Scotland — Impending  Crisis — The  Convoca- 
tion— The  Disruption. 

We  pause  to  indicate  Mr.  Hewitson's  views  on  a 
subject  which,  during  the  last  three  years,  had  occu- 
pied no  small  share  of  his  sympathies  and  prayers. 

"  This  controversy,"  said  one  of  Scotland's  ancient 
worthies,  "  truly  reacheth  up  to  the  heavens,  and  the 
top  of  it  reacheth  above  the  clouds.  It  doth  highly 
concern  Jesus  Christ  himself,  in  His  glory,  royal  pre- 
rogative, and  kingdom,  which  He  hath  and  exerciseth 
as  Mediator  and  Head  of  His  Church."  Such  a  con- 
troversy had  been  raging  in  Scotland,  and  had  reached 
its  crisis  in  1843. 

The  first  note  of  the  coming  crisis  was  sounded  in 
August,  1841.  .  At  a  meeting  of  the  Commission  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the 
minority  intimated  their  purpose  of  appeahng  to  the 
State  to  overbear  the  evangelical  majority  in  the  ex- 
ercise  of  spiritual  discipline. 

"To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — Grangemuir,  August  21, 


IMPENDING  CRISIS.  117 

1841. — Last  meeting  of  Commission  has  told  a  tale  which 
historians  of  a  future  day  will  not  tell  in  a  very  few  pages.  It 
is  time  that  Christians  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God  :  the 
shock  of  decisive  battle  is  near,  and  there  will,  I  fear,  be  fall- 
ings away,  through  want  of  courage,  from  the  Lord's  ranks ; 
but  blessed  will  be  the  men  amongst  us  who  are  delivered 
from  the  hour  of  temptation.  "What  a  change  within  a  few 
past  years  !  How  great  may  be  the  change  when  a  few  years 
more  are  past !  God  forbid  that  I  should  be  like  Peter — val- 
iant in  tongue  for  Jesus,  but  faint-hearted  in  the  day  of  temp- 
tation !" 

Two  great  meetings  were  held  in  Edinburgh  at  the 
end  of  the  month.  Mr.  Hewitson  was  a  spectator  of 
both  scenes. 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Grangemuir,  SejJtember  6, 
1841. — To  return  to  the  Commission ;  I  am  sure  you  were 
delighted  with  the  unanimous  firmness  and  decision  of  principle 
exhibited  by  the  ministers  and  elders  of  the  Church  who  were 
present ; — of  the  Church,  I  say ;  for,  along  with  you,  I  regard 
the  moderate  party  as  belonging,  not  to  the  Church,  but  to 
the  world.  There  always  has  been  a  world  in  the  Church,  as 
well  as  a  church  in  the  world ;  and  now-a-days,  looking  at  the 
two  conflicting  bodies  through  the  medium  of  Scriptnre  truth, 
we  cannot  hesitate  to  say  which  of  the  two  is  the  most  church- 
like, and  which  the  most  world-like.  I  was  present  for  two 
hours  in  the  West  Kirk  in  the  evening :  that  was  a  fine  spec- 
tacle. How  impressive  the  solemnity  of  feeling  pervading  the 
congregated  mass  !  How  stirring  and  affecting  the  eloquence 
of  Candlish — of  Gordon  !  May  the  Lord  look  down  and  bless 
the  efforts  made  in  behalf  of  His  royal  prerogative  !  His  cause 
must  certainly  prevail ;  and  though,  like  the  sea  at  flow-tide, 
it  seems  at  brief  intervals  to  be  retrograding,  it  is  only  to  collect 
its  strength,  and  again  rush  with  new  impetus  over  the  opposing 
barriers." 


118  MEMOIR   OF  EEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOK. 

Some  candidates  for  tlie  ministry  were  bending  be 
fore  the  storm.     Mr.  Hewitson  had  grace  to  stand. 

"To  Dr.  Marsden. — Grangemuir,  February  15,  1^4:2. — 
....  Even  though  I  were  able  to  preach,  I  have  at  present 
little  prospect  of  getting  a  church  ;  for  I  belong,  on  Bible  prin- 
ciples, to  that  party  in  the  Church  of  Scotland  which  is  now 
sadly  depressed  by  the  oppressive  usurpations  of  the  civil  court. 
A  deserter  to  the  opposite  party  can  readily  obtain  a  presenta- 
tion ;  but  it  were  better,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  live  in  penury, 
to  be  driven  out  of  the  Establishment,  than  to  live  caressed  and 
in  affluence,  but  stung  to  the  quick  by  a  traitor's  conscience !" 

The  General  Assembly,  which  met  in  May,  1842, 
adopted  a  "  Claim  of  Eight,"  as  the  Church's  formal 
appeal  to  the  State,  demanding,  "  as  of  right,"  in  vir- 
tue of  ancient  statutes,  uncontrolled  freedom,  notwith- 
standing State  connection,  to  rule  in  the  house  of  God. 
Whilst  the  appeal  lay  before  the  State  unheeded,  the 
civil  courts,  at  the  instance  of  the  relentless  minority, 
pronounced  a  decision,  finding  a  presbytery,  who  had 
refused  to  ordain  a  presentee  whose  call  was  signed 
by  only  three  persons  in  a  parish  of  two  thousand 
people,  personally  liable  in  a  penalty  of  £16,000. 
This  decision  rendering  further  delay  impossible,  a 
convocation  of  ministers  was  summoned  in  November, 
1842,  to  determine  on  the  course  of  action.  Mr. 
Hewitson,  then  lying  an  invalid  in  Edinburgh,  evinced 
his  deep  concern  in  the  crisis  by  preparing  and  widely 
circulating  the  following — 

"  Proposal  for    Untied  Prayer. — A  Convocation    of  the 


THE  CONVOCATION.  119 

Ministers  of  the  Churcli  of  Scotland  is  to  be  held  in  Edinburgli 
on  the  17th  of  this  month.  That  it  may  be  blessed  by  God, 
as  a  means  of  glorifying  His  Son,  and  of  promoting  the  best 
interests  of  our  Zion,  it  is  proposed  that  as  many  of  God's  chil- 
dren as  possible  unite  daily,  between  Tuesday  8th  and  Thursday 
I7th  instant,  in  prayer,  either  private  or  public,  on  jts  behalf. 
Let  us  pray  God,  1st,  That  many  ministers  may  assemble  at 
the  Convocation,  in  a  spirit  of  prayer  and  of  zeal  for  the  Re- 
deemer's glory  ;  2d,  That,  when  assembled,  they  may  receive 
largely '  the  spirit  of  counsel  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord  ;'  3c?, 
That  the  Spirit  may  so  '  glorify  Christ  by  showing  unto  them' 
his  office  and  character  as  the  King  of  Zion,  that  they  may  bear 
a  united  testimony  to  the  truth,  and  rejoice  in  being  counted 
worthy  to  suffer  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  ;  4th,  That,  beholding  the 
glory  of  Jesus,  which  the  Father  hath  given  him,  and  being 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter,  they  may  resolve, 
toith  one  heart  and  soul,  to  forsake  all,  if  need  be,  and  follow 
Christ ;  5  th,  That  the  world  may  see  their  oneness  of  spirit,  and 
so  taking  knowledge  of  them  that  they  have  been  with  Jesus, 
be  led  to  confess  that  Jesus  is  indeed  the  only  King  of  Zion." 
''Mv.  2,  1842." 

At  tlie  Convocation,  about  fonr  hundred  ministers 
subscribed  resolutions,  binding  tliem  to  separate  from 
the  State  unless  Parliament  sboiild  interpose  to  nullify 
tlie  new  construction  put  by  tbe  civil  courts  npon  the 
ancient  statutes. 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dalmellington,  January  9, 1843. 
— Since  I  saw  you,  the  affairs  of  our  martyr-Zion  present  a  dif- 
ferent, though  by  no  means  a  more  hopeless  aspect.  The  Con- 
vocation has,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  been  a  means  of  bringing 
out  into  open  day  a  spirit  of  self-denial  and  faithfulness  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  which  speaks  more  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  than  would  all  the  support  of  a  favoring 


120  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

earthly  legislature.  So  long  as  our  Church  is  able  to  furnish 
such  a  cloud  of  devoted  witnesses  to  the  truth,  she  will  be 
blessed  and  prosperous  even  in  the  midst  of  persecution.  Her 
present  trials  are  a  sure  indication  of  that  which  alone  consti- 
tutes the  prosperity  of  a  church — I  mean,  the  character  of  god- 
liness. Now  is  not  a  time  for  us  to  cry  out, '  the  Church  is  in 
danger:'  it  is  a  time  to  cry  out,  with  the  voice  of  warning, 
'  the  State  is  in  danger.'  Judgment  in  this  land  is  first  begin- 
ning with  the  righteous — what,  then,  will  the  end  be  of  those 
who  obey  not  the  gospel  of  God  ?  This  is  a  critical  time  for 
the  ivorld.''^ 

The  Government  issued  a  manifesto,  holding  out  no 
prospect  of  relief. 

"To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — Dalmellington,  January  24, 
1843. —  ....  The  letter  of  Sir  James  Graham,  which  is  in 
character  with  all  his  actings  towards  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
shows  us  what  measure  of  redress  wo  may  expect  from  Gov- 
ernment. '  The  minute'  of  the  special  commission  is  a  strin- 
gently argumentative  and  unanswerable  document ;  but  what 
avails  it?  The  enemies  of  Zion  have  closed  their  eyes,  and 
they  will  not  see  :  they  have  steeled  their  hearts,  and  they  will 
not  pity.  We  must  lift  up  our  eyes  to  the  hills,  from  whence 
alone  cometh  our  help.  My  fears  will  be  most  happily  disap- 
pointed, if  we  be  not  entering  on  a  stormy  period,  a  period  of 
fiery  trial,  which  will  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is. 
We  had  need  to  be  looking  well  to  our  armor." 

Parliament  at  length  spoke.  The  Church  of  Scot- 
land's "  Claim  of  Eight"  was  unequivocally,  almost 
contumeliously,  rejected.  Both  the  great  parties  in 
the  State  agreed  in  declaring  that  the  price  of  State- 
connection  was  Church-subj  ection.  Formerly,  in  Scot- 
land.  the  union  of  Church  and  State  had  left  unfet- 


THE   DISRUPTIOX.  121 

tered  the  liberty  of  cliurcli-rulers  and  churcli-mem- 
bers,  Now,  this  liberty  was  withdrawn.  And  for 
the  Church  one  course  only  was  open.  The  crisis  at 
length  came. 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Dahnellington,  May  24,  1843. 
—  ....  The  disruption  took  place  amidst  circumstances  so 
awfully  solemn,  that  it  could  scarcely  fail  to  impress  even  the 
world  with  the  conviction  that  God  himself  was  revealing  His 
arm.  What  reason  for  all  who  love  Christ's  royal  name,  and 
bear  witness  to  his  crown-rights,  to  adore  the  Father  of  lights 
for  having  given  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  counsel,  of  boldness 
and  unity,  in  so  large  a  measure  to  His  servants !  The  time 
chosen  was  the  fittest  time  for  separation ;  the  mode  of  separat- 
ing was  the  wisest  that  could  have  been  adopted.  Even  hu- 
man wisdom  can  now  say  this  ;  but  it  was  Divine  wisdom  that, 
in  the  hour  of  perplexity,  directed  the  counsels  of  our  Church. 
It  is  no  vain  thing  to  '  hold  the  Head'  Christ  Jesus  :  by  so  do- 
ing, the  Church,  which  is  Christ's  body,  as  well  as  every  mem- 
ber of  it,  draws  from  the  Lord  wisdom  in  perplexity,  and  grace 
to  help  in  the  time  of  need. 

"  I  am  anxious  to  make  known  my  adherence  to  '  the  protest' 
of  the  Free  Assembly.  Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  give  in  my 
name,  that  it  may  be  added  to  the  200  probationers  already 
enrolled  ?" 

"To  Dr.  Moir. — June  9,  1843. —  ....  A  glorious  per- 
spective of  usefulness  is  at  present  unfolded  to  the  eye  of  our 
witnessing  Church,  and  there  are  many  tokens  for  good — 
many  reasons  to  believe  that  from  this  day  the  Lord  will  visit 
us  with  showers  of  reviving  grace.  Surely  the  Lord  will 
Himself  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  for  which  so  many  faithful 
witnesses  have  given  up  their  whole  worldly  substance." 

"To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — June  12,  1843. —  ,  .  .  . 
The  disruption  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  of  many  fam- 
ilies and  of  many  friendships,  has  taken  place  !     The  Church 

6 


122  MEMOIR   OF  KEV.   W,    H.   HEWITSOa". 

goes  asunder  into  two  assemblies  ;  and  families,  each  united  til] 
now,  separate  to  different  places  of  worship. 

"  Let  me  only  say,  that  though  the  disruption  of  our  Church 
be,  in  some  points  of  view,  one  of  the  most  striking,  marvellous 
events  that  have  ever  occurred,  it  is,  nevertheless,  not  great  ?n 
comparison  with  the  events  which  are  ordained  in  due  time  to 
follow ;  and  that  it  is  ours  '  to  stand  upon  the  watch,  and  set  u& 
upon  the  tower,'  having  'our  loins  girt  and  our  lights  burning,' 
and  praying  that  (whatever  sense  we  put  upon  the  words)  '  we 
may  be  counted  worthy  to  escape  those  things  which  shall 
come  to  pass,  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  man.' 

"  One  pleasing  prospect  is,  that  there  is  going  to  be  a  time 
of  showers  and  awakening  in  Zion, — at  least  there  is  ground 
for  hoping  this." 

His  eye  was  on  the  liorizon,  looking  for  tlie  expect- 
ed "rain." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — DahneUlngion,  July  9,  1844. — 
Every  event  alike  has  been  fraught  with  the  intelligence  from 
heaven  that  the  Lord  acknowledges  our  cause,  that  the  Lord 
will  plead  it,  that  '  His  arm  is  awaking  as  in  the  days  of  old.' 
Especially  do  we  see  into  the  Lord's  mind,  through  the  window 
which  was  opened  in  heaven  at  the  last  General  Assembly. 
The  first  drops  of  a  shower  descended,  and  that  too — a  circum- 
stance of  apparently  deep  import — on  the  representatives  of  the 
whole  body  of  our  Church.  There  has  likewise  been  a  more 
cheerful  giving  away  to  the  Lord  than  Scotland  ever  before 
witnessed.  Does  not  this  tell  us  that  a  cloud  full  of  rain  is 
gathering  overhead  ?  For  it  is  written,  '  Bring  the  tithes  into 
the  storehouse,  that  there  may  he  meat  in  my  house,  and  frove 
me  noio  hereivith,  if  I  will  not  open  the  windows  of  heaven  and 
pour  you  out  a  blessing.'  All  things  break  forth  into  one  cry — 
'  There  is  a  sound  of  abundance  of  rain.'  If  the  clouds  pass 
away  without  sending  us  down  a  shower  of  blessing,  surely  it 
will  be  in  consequence  of  a  guilty  '  restraining  of  prayer.'  " 


THE  DISRUPTIOiSr.  12^ 

Few  felt  more  keenly,  in  subsequent  years,  tliat  the 
clouds  had  passed  away  over  Scotland  without  send- 
ing down  the  abundant  rain. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Hewitson  regarded  the 
great  event  of  1843,  not  as  a  mere  isolated  fact,  "  com- 
ing as  a  shadow^  and  so  departing,"  but  as  a  premoni- 
tory winnowing  of  that  fan  wherewith  the  Lord  shall 
speedily,  in  all  the  churches,  purge  His  floor.  Scan- 
ning the  portentous  future,  he  thus  writes : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — November  3, 1844. —  ....  Let 
us  not  rashly  conclude  that  we  are  all  as  chaffless  wheat  on  the 
thrashing-floor  of  Zion.  Meantime,  the  Lord  has  stayed  His 
rough  wind,  according  to  promise,  in  this  the  day  of  His  east 
wind  ;  but  what  separating  work  may  we  fear  the  instant  His 
rough  wind  begins  to  blow  !  What  the  gentle  passes  of  His 
fan  have  not,  in  the  day  of  forbearance,  done,  may  be  done 
speedily  when  His  fannings  become  as  '  a  continuing  whirlwind.' 
There  are  omens  of  a  coming  tempest,  of  a  '  dark  and  cloudy 
day.'    0  for  the  '  faith  that  overcometh  the  world  1' " 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1844,  1845. 

Lisbon  —  Diary  —  Correspondence  —  Popery  and  Infidelity  —  Divine 
Training — Snares  and  Conflicts — The  Armor  of  God — Spiritual 
Analysis — The  Word  a  Lamp — Way  made  plain — Sails  for  Madeira. 

The  brief  residence  at  Lisbon  was  a  notable  season 
in  Mr.  Hewitson's  life.  The  Lord  took  Hm  once  more 
aside,  to  give  to  tbe  "sharp  thrashing  instrument"  a 
"new"  edge.  The  process  is  recorded  in  a  private 
diary  kept  by  him  during  his  sojourn  in  that  city. 
We  limit  ourselves  to  selected  extracts,  interspersed 
with  his  contemporaneous  correspondence. 

Before  quoting  from  the  journal,  let  us  accompany 
him  on  his  voyage,  and  learn  his  first  impressions  of 
Portugal.     He  writes : — 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — At  Mrs.  Lawrence's  Has- 
pedaria,  39  Rua  Nova  San  Francisco  de  Paulo,  Buenoi 
Ayres,  Lisbon,  Dec.  1,  1844. — My  very  dear  Friend, — Oi 
Thursday  of  last  week  I  left  Southampton  by  the  Pacha  steam- 
er, and,  by  the  goodness  of  God,  had  good  weather  for  the 
voyage.  During  the  first  two  days,  sickness  detained  me  in  m) 
berth.  On  Saturday  evening,  amidst  the  heavings  of  the  Ba} 
of  Biscay,  I  got  out  upon  deck,  and  was  refreshed  by  the  cool 
ing  head-wind.  We  were  in  the  Bay  till  Sabbath  evening.  The 


LISBON,  125 

Sabbath  was  to  me  no  day  of  sweet  refreshing,  though  it 
brought  forcibly  to  my  mind  the  blessed  privileges  of  Scotland. 
All  the  day  I  spent  on  deck  in  solitude  and  silence,  without 
reading,  and  almost  without  reflection — I  was  so  weak  and  ex- 
hausted. 

"  On  Sabbath  evening  we  put  up  into  the  port  of  Vigo,  for 
the  purpose  of  delivering  and  receiving  the  mail.  Speedily 
boats  with  lanterns  came  shooting  through  the  dark  towards 
the  vessel,  and  a  scene  of  bustle  ensued — fresh  passengers 
coming  on  board,  and  packages  of  goods  being  heaved  up  from 
the  boats  for  transportation.  Spanish  and  English  words  fell 
thick  on  the  ear. 

"Next  morning  we  came  to  anchor  near  Oporto.  The  city 
was  concealed  from  view,  as  it  lies  about  two  miles  up  the  river. 
The  mail  was  delivered  here.  In  the  afternoon  there  was  a 
fog,  and  the  sea  became  rough.  After  dinner  I  went  on  deck, 
and  paced  to  and  fro  amidst  the  darkness,  or  sat  looking  to 
Him  '  who  stilleth  the  raging  of  the  sea.' 

"  On  Tuesday  morning  I  dressed  earlier  than  usual,  as  we 
were  now  approaching  to  Lisbon.  The  first  object  that  met 
my  eye  was  the  State  prison — a  fortified  place  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tagus.  A  little  way  further  up,  and  on  the  same — that  is, 
the  northern — side  of  the  river,  was  seen  the  Tower  of  Belem, 
from  the  neighborhood  of  which  Vasco  de  Gama  set  out  on 
his  expedition.  Lisbon,  founded  on  its  seven  hills,  was  now 
seen  stretching  along  the  banks  of  the  noble  Tagus.  I  had 
cause  of  gratitude  to  the  Lord  for  bringing  me  in  safety  to  my 
place  of  destination,  but  a  feehng  of  sadness  and  desolation  pre- 
vailed. A  city  to  dwell  in,  but  no  home,  no  relative,  no  friend ! 
A  stranger  in  a  strange  land  ! 

Having  cast  anchor  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  shore,  we 
waited  till  the  custom-house  officers  had  secured  all  the  luggage 
that  was  to  be  landed  at  Lisbon.  Afterwards  Sir  James  For- 
rest, who  was  one  of  the  passengers,  came  ashore  with  me  to 
see  the  city.     With  some  little  difficulty  we  found  the  houso 


126  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

of  Mr.  M'Lagan,  merchant,  to  whom  I  had  letters  of  introduc- 
tion. The  good  man  gave  us  an  hospitable  reception,  and  sent 
a  young  man  with  us  to  show  us  the  city  from  the  top  of  one 
of  its  hills. 

"  All  the  information  which  I  had  obtained  in  Scotland  re- 
specting Lisbon  has  turned  out  to  be,  either  in  great  measure, 
or  altogether,  inaccurate.  Popery  is  in  this  city  making  mighty 
efforts  at  present  to  establish  itself  in  exclusive  dominion  over 
the  minds  of  men.  It  is  the  seat  and  centre  of  propagandism. 
It  is  the  source  of  all  the  evil  influence  that  has  been  brought 
to  bear  against  the  good  work  that  has  been  going  on  in  Ma- 
deira. The  noblest  names — the  highest  political  functionaries 
— are  connected  with  the  endeavors  at  present  made  to  ad- 
vance the  interests  of  '  the  faith.''  I  see  that  in  Scotland  we 
know  little  or  nothing  of  what  is  going  forward  in  foreign  coun- 
tries connected  with  religion. 

"  I  wish,  dear  friend,  that  you  were  along  with  me  :  we 
would  follow  the  Shepherd  together  into  green  pastures,  and 
beside  the  still  waters.  I  am  alone.  Christ  sometimes  smiles 
most  graciously  upon  me,  but  I  am  often  sorely  tempted.  The 
devil  sometimes  rages  and  storms.  I  feel  this  to  be  a  critical 
period  in  my  spiritual  life.  To  set  the  Lord  always  before  me, 
and  ever  to  abide  in  the  enjoyment  of  His  love— that  alone  can 
restrain  the  soul  from  returning  again  to  folly.  Just  now,  how 
near  to  me  all  my  beloved  friends  in  Edinburgh  seem  to  be  ! 
May  they  be  all  beloved  of  the  Lord  !  Make  my  affectionate 
regards  to  them  all. 

"  My  health  is  tolerably  good  ;  my  appetite  excessively  keen 
— as  keen  as  the  cutting  winds  of  a  Lisbon  December.  The 
climate  here  is  milder  decidedly  than  in  Scotland  ;  but  the 
winds  are  cold  even  at  mid-day,  when  the  sun  is  very  warm. 
Just  now — i.  e.,  past  seven  o'clock  p.m. — the  thermometer 
stands  at  53  degrees  or  54.  I  have  no  fire.  Write  soon,  my 
dear  friend  and  brother,  and  believe  me  to  be  yours  very  affec- 
tionately, W.  H.  H." 


JOURNAL.  127 

in  the  journal  he  thus  notes  the  Lord's  daily  deal- 
ings with  him : — 

"  Sabbath,  December  8, 1844. — Much  joy  ia  believing.  Fel- 
lowship with  the  Lord." 

"  Saturday,  December  14. — For  several  days  buffeted  by 
Satan.  *  Pressed  out  of  measure,  above  strength,  insomuch 
that  I  was  almost  driven  to  despair.'  Satan  designs  to  bring 
me  again  into  bondage.  In  the  evening,  sore  perplexed,  I  be- 
took myself  to  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer.  Obtained  thus  a 
great  enlargement — filled  with  love  and  gratitude  to  the  Lord 
— found  Him  very  near  imto  me.  '  Bless  the  Lord,  0  ray  soul 
and  forget  not  all  His  benefits.'  " 

"  Sabbath,  December  15. — All  the  day  till  the  evening  won- 
derful manifestations  of  grace  and  love  from  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  Infinite,  adorable  love  !  Grace  to 
the  chief  of  sinners — grace  coming  over  mountains  of  guilt ! 
Royal,  reigning,  glorious  grace  !  Where  sin  abounds,  grace 
still  more,  infinitely  more,  abounding  !  This  my  experience  ! 
The  Sabbath  sweet,  though  I  was  all  alone — sweet  beyond  de- 
scription for  hours  together — wrapt  in  wonder,  adoration,  and 
love  !  Oh,  what  a  God  is  our  God  !  ....  In  consequence  of 
not  looking  steadfastly  to  the  Lord  as  all  my  righteousness  and 
strength,  a  tendency  evident  to  superstition  and  confidence  in 
the  flesh.  Hence  a  spirit  of  bondage.  This  day  were  remark- 
ably displayed  the  different  natures  of  the  flesh  and  the  Spirit. 
*  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.'  See  also  Rom.  viii.  5-9  (especially  ver. 
5),  and  Gal.  v.  16-26  (especially  ver.  1*7).  In  the  evening, 
read  and  explained  part  of  John  iii.  in  a  class  of  five  children 
who  came  to  my  room.  Some  enlargement — some  love  to  Je- 
sus." 

"  Tuesday,  De/;ember  17. — No  lasting  happiness,  except  in 
unvarying  subjection  to  the  will  of  God.  To  know  His  will  in 
all  things,  great  and  small,  singleness  of  eye  absolutely  neces- 


128  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W.   U.   HEWITSOX. 

sary.  Singleness  of  eye  of  no  use  to  me  except  when  I  look 
at  things  in  the  light  of  God's  Word.  *  To  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony,'  &c.  The  only  support  of  the  soul  under  tempta- 
tion is,  '  The  Lord  our  Righteousness'  realized  by  faith.  Be- 
ing justified  by  faith  in  this  truth,  we  have  peace  with  God, 
and  that  peace  makes  the  soul  strong,  both  for  doing  and  suf- 
fering God's  will." 

"  Wednesday,  December  18. — Fellowship  with  the  Lord. 
Saw  in  His  face  the  glory  of  the  Father,  the  Spirit  embracing 
me  in  the  arms  of  His  gracious  love.  Joy  and  peace  in  read- 
ing the  Word  and  in  prayer — so  full  of  Divine  light  and  bless- 
edness, that  I  felt  as  if  I  could  willingly  do  or  suffer  anything 
for  the  glory  of  God." 

"  Thursday,  December  19. — How  sweet  the  Word  to  my 
taste  !  Enjoyment  of  fellowship  with  God  in  prayer.  My 
peace  interrupted  by  the  secret  workings  of  the  impatient,  rest- 
less flesh.  '  When  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me.' 
Difficulty  of  restraining  the  tendency  to  impatience  under  the 
crosses  of  the  day.  That  very  tendency  disabled  me  to  draw, 
as  I  should  have  done,  upon  the  treasures  of  strengthening, 
sanctifying  grace  which  are  in  Christ. 

"  0  to  be  free  from  the  body  of  this  death  !  It  would  glad- 
ly, if  it  could,  free  itself  from  the  restraints  of  God's  blessed 
Word  and  Spirit !  When  shall  the  enemy  be  slain,  and  my 
soul  wholly  free  !  Went  with  my  rankling  sore  to  the  throne 
of  grace.  Some  comfort.  I  am  ashamed  to  be  always,  always 
going  back  to  God  stained  with  guilt ;  but  still  I  have  found 
God  gracious — ready  to  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  my  head  by 
pouring  out  on  my  hell-deserving  soul  the  treasures  of  His 
love  and  pity.  *  There  is  forgiveness  with  Thee  that  thou 
mayest  be  feared.'  '  Gifts  for  men,  yea,  for  the  rebellious 
also  !'  O  my  soul,  bless  the  Lord,  '  who  forgiveth  all  thine 
iniquities.' 

"  Lord  Jesus,  O  that  I  was  holy  as  thou  art  holy  !  How 
long  shall  the  wicked,  how  long  shall  the  wicked  triumph  I 


POPERY  IN  LISBON.  129 

They  say  unto  me  daily,  '  Where  is  now  thy  God  ?'  O  Lord, 
plead  in  me  Thine  own  cause  ;  show  that,  as  Thou  art  my 
righteousness,  Thou  art  ray  sanctification  also." 

In  another  letter  lie  writes : — 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Lisbon,  December  20, 1844. 
— It  is  pleasant  to  look  back  on  the  scenes,  and  to  remember 
the  friends  who  are  now  far  distant.  Distance  makes  the 
scenes  more  lovely,  and  the  friends  more  dear  to  me  than  they 
ever  were.  This  all  the  more  so,  that  dark  uncertainty  hangs 
over  the  future.  May  we  at  least  meet  again  round  the  table 
of  the  Lord  in  His  heavenly  kingdom  !  One  element  of  dis- 
comfort in  my  position  here  is,  that  I  am  comparatively  shut 
out  from  opportunities  of  present  usefulness. 

"  A  letter,  recently  received  by  a  correspondent  here  from 
Dr.  Kalley,  brings  the  information  that  the  twenty-six  converts 

are  still  shut  up  in  Funchal  prison In  every  house  in 

Lisbon,  where  there  are  Protestants,  there  is  a  jealous  surveil- 
lance maintained  over  them,  I  understand,  through  means  of 
the  Confessional.  Popery  here  is  a  living,  wakeful,  energetic 
power.  It  has  bribed,  and  endeavors  still  to  bribe,  Protestants 
into  defection. 

"  On  the  evening  after  my  arrival  at  Lisbon,  I  had  a  long 
conversation — which  was  conducted  in  patched  Portuguese  on 
my  part,  and  patched  English  on  his — with  a  young  Portu- 
guese nobleman  whom  I  met  in  the  hotel.  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunity, in  reply  to  a  question  which  he  put,  of  informing  him, 
that  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  do  not  acknowledge  tha 
Pope  or  any  other  person,  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  tha 
head  of  the  Church.  I  endeavored,  likewise,  to  explain  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ's  righteousness  alone. 
He  assisted  me  in  endeavoring  to  quote  a  verse  of  Scripture  on 
the  subject ;  but,  when  I  asked  him  whether  he  held  the  same 
views  with  myself,  he  replied,  that  he  had  not  acquaintance 
enough  with  the  English  language  to  enable  him  to  discuss  the 

6* 


130  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

question.  My  proficiency  in  Portuguese  is  not  yet  great  enough 
to  enable  me  to  speak  much,  still  less  to  understand  what  is 
rapidly  spoken  by  others  ;  nevertheless,  I  have  occasionally  had 
conversations  vfith  a  Portuguese  servant,  a  young  man,  who 
seems  to  take  great  pleasure  in  hearing  and  reading  about  the 
concerns  of  the  soul." 

Several  months  later  we  find  him  stating  his  ma- 
tured impressions  on  the  subject  of  Komanism,  es- 
pecially in  its  relation  to  Infidelity. 

"  To  THE  Kev.  J.  DoDDS. — Lisbou  is  to  Portugal  and  its  de- 
pendencies, at  this  moment,  the  head-quarters  of  Koman  Cath- 
olic influence.  There  is  in  it  an  Associacdo  da  Fe,  supported 
by  many  great  names.  Its  operations  are  carried  on  with 
vigor,  with  secrecy,  and  with  little  scrupulosity  as  to  the  means 
of  success  resorted  to. 

"  There  is  much  infidelity  abroad  among  all  classes  of  the 
Portuguese,  under  the  guise  of  a  decent  outward  observance 
of  the  rites  of  Popery.  That  there  is  likewise  much  supereti- 
tion  and  bigotry,  and  that  these  are  on  the  increase,  is,  I  think, 
unquestionable.  But  all,  whether  they  be  bigots  or  infidels, 
are  one  in  the  determination  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  and  to  promote  its  interests.  The  one  class  sees,  in 
the  communion  of  the  Popish  Church,  the  only  possibility  of 
salvation,  and  by  the  doctrines  of  that  Church  it  is  bound'  to 
■war  against  all  heresy  and  schism.  The  other  class  finds  that 
the  Church  of  Rome,  exercising,  as  it  does,  a  benumbing  influ- 
ence over  the  intellectual  faculties,  and  precluding  all  liberty 
of  judgment  and  choice,  is  admirably  fitted  to  serve  as  an  en- 
gine of  pohtical  despotism.  This  class  is  bound,  by  the  love 
of  political  ascendency  and  the  zeal  of  party,  to  defend  the 
Church  of  Rome  against  all  that  would  destroy  its  unity  or  dis- 
turb its  peace.  Nor  is  that  Church  unwiUing  to  be  supported 
by  alliance  with  infidelity.     She  cares  not  who  they  be  that 


POPERY   AND   INFIDELITY.  131 

are  within  her  pale,  if  only  they  support  her  interests,  and  out- 
wardly respect  her  forms.  She  is  true  to  her  character,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  Apocalypse.  Professing  to  be  the  Lamb's  wife, 
she  is  an  adulteress. 

"  I  think  that,  at  the  present  time,  there  are  at  work  to- 
gether, for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  ascendency  of  Rome, 
the  two  distinct  but  closely  allied  powers  of  superstition  and 
infidelity.  If  we  try  to  account  for  the  appearances  of  a  grow- 
ing influence,  which  Popery  presents  everywhere  throughout 
the  nations,  by  exclusively  regarding  the  operation  of  one  of 
these  two  powers,  we  shall,  I  think,  soon  be  convinced  of  the 
inadequacy  of  the  cause  to  the  effect.  There  is  a  reality  in  the 
superstition  of  the  present  day.  It  is  not  mere  hypocrisy  and 
simulation.  God  is  giving  up  multitudes  of  men  to  *  strong 
delusion,  to  beheve  a  lie,  that  they  all  may  be  damned  who 
receive  not  the  love  of  the  truth  that  they  may  be  saved.'  Sa- 
tan is  reigning  as  a  spirit  of  superstition  and  erroneous  belief 
over  the  minds  of  thousands,  and  day  by  day  he  is  bringing 
more  under  the  power  of  his  soul-destroying  lies.  But  infidelity 
has  an  equally  substantial  influence ; — it  can  also  number  its 
thousands  and  its  tens  of  thousands  ;  and  it  is  necessary  to 
take  its  operation  into  account  also,  if  we  would  adequately 
explain  the  events  which  are  giving  proof  of  Popery's  being 
again  in  the  ascendant. 

"  Superstition  is  furthering  Popery  for  its  own  sake — infi- 
delity is  furthering  it  for  the  sake  of  an  ulterior  end.  The  two 
powers  are  now  combining  their  forces,  and  acting  in  mutual 
subserviency  to  each  other.  These  now  appear  to  be  at  one, 
but  they  have  different  interests ;  and  after  a  brief  period  of 
trouble,  resulting  from  the  union  of  their  counsels  and  efforts, 
a  breach  will  take  place  between  them  ; — infidelity  will  show 
itself  hostile  to  even  the  bare  form  of  religion — the  '  beast'  will 
destroy  the  *  whore,'  eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire." 

The  journal  proceeds : — 


132  MEMOIR   OF   KEY.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

"  Wednesday^  December  25,  1844. — How  blessed  is  Gal.  iv. 
3-7  !  Adoption,  or  '  the  putting  on  of  Christ,'  in  the  article 
of  His  sonship — that  alone  brings  hberty,  power,  and  love  into 
the  soul.  '  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus  ;  for  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ 
have  put  on  Christ,'  and  consequently  stand  in  the  same  light 
as  Christ  himself  does  before  God. 

-  "  December  26. — Difficult  to  give  the  body  its  due  so  as  not 
to  affect  injuriously  the  interests  of  the  soul.  The  body  is  not 
to  be  neglected,  but  to  be  held  in  some  honor  as  regards  the 
satisfying  of  its  just  natural  demands.  Yet  there  is  danger 
lest  the  bounds  of  a  holy  temperance  be  exceeded.  These 
bounds  are  discernible  only  in  the  light  which  fills  '  the  whole 
body  when  the  eye  is  single.'  If  this  light  be  wanting,  there 
will  be  either  an  abuse  of  liberty  in  the  form  of  intemperance, 
or  a  defect  of  liberty  in  the  form  of  superstitious  self-mortifica- 
tion. *  Ye  are  called  unto  liberty,  only  use  not  liberty  for  an 
occasion  to  the  flesh.'  ....  Read,  with  much  sweet  enjoy- 
ment, 1  Cor.  vi.  11-13,  in  connection  with  Gal.  v.  Prayed 
that  I  might  '  walk  in  the  Spirit,'  so  as  to  be  kept  from  '  ful- 
filling the  lust  of  the  flesh.'  Enabled  to  pray  '  in  the  Spirit,' 
with  'the  peace  of  God,  which  passes  all  understanding,' 
reigning  in  my  heart.     Christ  was  lovely  in  my  eyes. 

"  Has  Satan  not  sometimes  aimed  at  leading  me,  by  appear- 
ing as  an  angel  of  light,  and  an  advocate  of  righteousness,  to 
substitute,  as  the  rule  of  my  Christian  walk,  inward  suggestions 
coming  from  himself,  in  the  room  of  the  external  Word  of  God  ? 
Has  he  not  endeavored  to  perplex  me  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  me  look  upon  every  instance  of  nonconformity  to  these 
inward  suggestions  as  an  instance  of  disobedience  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  so  to  humble  me  continually  throughout  my  Chris- 
tian course  ?  It  occurred  to  me  that,  in  order  to  *  walk  in  the 
Spirit,'  I  must  be  careful  to  look  at  everything  in  the  light  of 
the  Word,  for  the  Word  is  the  only  revelation  given  to  me  of 
the  Spirit's  mind  ;  and  likewise  to  look  much  at  the  glory  of 


JOURNAL.  133 

Christ,  for  the  office  of  the  Spirit  is  to  '  glorify  Christ,  by 
taking  of  His  and  showing  it  to  the  believer.'  How  can  I  walk 
in  the  Spirit  if  I  do  not  enter  into  His  thoughts,  as  they  are 
revealed  in  Scripture ;  or  if  I  do  not  look  at  Christ's  glory, 
which  the  Spirit  holds  forth  to  my  view  ?  '  We  all,  with  open 
face,  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord.' 

"  Friday,  December  27. — While  writing  an  article  on  '  Gos- 
pel Liberty,'  for  the  Christian  Monitor,  visited  with  evil 
thoughts,  and  tempted.  Did  not  feel  that  I  was  writing  in 
fellowship  with  the  Lord.  I  should  rather  say,  the  truths 
which  I  was  writing  on  did  not  form  at  the  time  a  means  of 
fellowship  with  the  Lord  to  my  own  soul." 

Will  tlie  reader,  if  lie  be  a  minister  of  Christ,  pon- 
der these  concluding  words  ?  Henry  Martyn,  in  his 
diary,  laments  that  "  want  of  private  devotional  read- 
ing and  shortness  of  prayer,  through  incessant  sermon- 
making,  had  produced  much  strangeness  between  God 
and  his  soul."  Martyn  was  no  enemy  to  careful 
"  sermon-making,"  or  to  scholarlike  study.  Nor  was 
Mr.  Hewitson.  But  both  alike  knew  that  the  written 
preparations,  however  elaborate,  which  had  "not 
formed  at  the  time  a  means  of  fellowship  with  the 
Lord  to  their  own  souls,"  were  not  likely  to  avail  as 
instruments  in  God's  hand  for  converting  or  edifying 
others.  It  is  recorded  of  Pay  son  that  "he  studied 
theology  on  his  knees."  He  preached  first  to  himself 
what  he  intended  to  preach  to  others.  Hence  his 
power. 

"  Sabbath,  December  29, 1844. — Enlargement  in  prayer,  and, 


134  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

whilst  engaged  in  intercession,  was  enabled  in  some  measure 
to  believe  that  my  cry  was  heard.  On  reading  Pe  of  Ps.  cxix. 
discovered  in  it  precious  things  which,  less  than  an  hour  before, 
when  I  endeavored  to  make  it  the  subject  of  meditation,  were 
hid  from  my  eyes ;  so  truly  '  with  God  is  the  fountain  of  life, 
and  in  His  light  alone  we  see  light.'  ....  0  my  soul,  if  thou 
wouldst  always  be  filled  with  the  living  water,  be  ever  going 
out  in  believing  desires  unto  Jesus,  the  fountain-head  !  In  the 
evening  had  my  small  sabbath-class. 

^'' Monday,  December  ZQ. —  ....  A  spirit  of  self-righteous- 
ness, exceedingly  subtle,  suggested  hard  thoughts  about  Christ. 

"  When  I  prayed  to  the  Lord  before  going  to  sleep,  I  felt 
as  if  the  evil  suggestions  which  had  terrified  and  staggered  me 
had  left  no  guilt  whatever  on  my  conscience.  God  has  taught 
me  not  to  be  so  amazed  and  terrified  at  the  discovery  and  ex- 
perience of  nothing  in  my  carnal  mind  but  hatred  and  enmity 
against  Himself.  '  In  me,  that  is,  in  my  fiesh,  dwelleth  no 
good  thing.''  Why,  then,  should  I  be  surprised  and  alarmed 
by  the  rising  up  of  evil,  and  nothing  but  evil  in  my  flesh  ?  .  .  .  . 
When  we  go  as  we  are  led  or  driven  by  the  motions  of  evil 
lust  and  aflfection,  then  it  is  that  we  '  walk  after  the  flesh.' 
The  wind  lifts  chaff  and  blows  it  away,  but  scarcely  stirs  the 
trees." 

"  Tuesday,  December  31. —  ....  In  reference  to  several 
things  which  I  did  during  the  day,  the  same  legal  spirit  found 
working  in  me.  It  is  a  spirit  which  threatens  where  the  gos- 
pel promises,  and  promises  where  the  gospel  threatens.  My 
judgment  and  experience  alike  condemn  it ;  but  still  it  often 
exercises  over  my  mind,  as  it  did  over  the  minds  of  the  Gala- 
.tians,  a  '  bewitching'  influence." 

"  Wednesday  January  1,  1845. — Sat  up  till  midnight,  and 
caught  the  very  beginning  of  another  year,  that  I  might  pray 
for  myself,  relatives,  friends,  &c.,  wishing  them  and  myself  a 
happy  and  blessed  new  year,  where  alone  the  wish  is  available 
for  any  good — at  the  throne  of  grace.     Fasted  till  nearly  three 


JOURNAL.  135 

o'clock  P.M.,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  praying  to  the  Lord  for 
deliverance  from  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness  and  bondage, 
from  inordinate  affections  and  evil  concupiscence,  and  for  growth 
in  holiness  during  the  year  now  begun.  '  This  kind  coraeth 
not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting.'  "When  all  other  means 
fail,  fasting  is  not  to  be  neglected.  It  is  an  appointed  means 
of  getting  the  victory  over  the  devil.  The  Lord  give  me  the 
victory  over  him,  and  the  dehverance  from  his  power,  which  I 
have  prayed  for  !     *  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive.'  " 

"  To-day  gave  myself  up  anew — spirit,  soul,  and  body — to 
the  Lord.  Not  that  I  gave,  or  could  undertake  to  give.  Him 
anything  but  wretchedness,  poverty,  blindness,  nakedness,  a 
burden  of  sin  and  corruption,  and  inability  to  do  anything  but 
what  is  evil ;  yet,  looking  to  the  promise,  '  My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee,  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness,'  I  laid 
myself,  spirit,  soul,  and  body,  before  the  Lord  this  day,  praying 
Him  to  be  my  '  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and  re- 
demption,' to  fill  my  spirit  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  sanctify  all 
the  faculties  of  my  soul  and  all  the  members  of  my  body,  to 
make  me  wholly  His  own,  a  vessel  of  grace  to  bear  His  name 
to  sinners,  an  instrument  to  be  employed  by  Him  in  His  ser- 
vice  Have  felt  the  uprisings  of  strong,  rebellious,  in- 

dwelhng  sin,  especially  in  the  form  of  impatience  under  those 
little  trials  which  it  is  perhaps  more  difficult  to  bear  with 
equanimity  than  it  is  to  bear  greater  ones." 

"  Thursday,  January  2.—  ....  Sometimes  I  seem  to  be 
all  corruption  within — I  feel  so  palpably  the  motions  of  sin, 
and  the  effects  of  Satanic  operation,  but  so  indistinctly  the 
motions  of  a  holy  nature,  and  the  workings  of  Divine  grace. 
The  Lord  gave  me,  in  answer  to  prayer,  a  feeling  of  interest  in 

His  glory  and  the  salvation  of  souls Enabled  clearly 

to  distinguish  between  the  workings  of  nature  and  those  of 
grace  in  my  soul — I  always  am  when  '  in  the  light.'  Bless  the 
Lord,  O  my  soul !" 

"  Saturday,  January  4. — Had  towards  God  uncomfortable 


136  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   Vv'.   H.   HEWITSON. 

feelings,  like  those  of  a  child  after  having  committed  some 
offence  towards  its  parents,  before  it  is  assured  of  its  forgiveness 
— the  feelings  of  a  heart  ill-reconciled. 

"  Went  to  the  Police-oflBce  with  my  passport.  Met  there  a 
young  man,  whom  I  accompanied  to  Buenos  Ayres,  as  he 
lived  not  far  from  my  lodgings.  While  going  along  with  him, 
impelled  forcibly  to  say  something,  as  a  matter  of  faithfulness 
to  Christ,  on  spiritual  subjects,  but  not  drawn  out  by  grace, 
and  unable  to  speak.  God  did  not '  work  in  me  to  will  and  to 
do.'  Intolerable  bondage,  to  be  driven  by  the  law,  and  not 
drawn  by  the  grace  of  Christ !" 

"  Sabbath,  January  5. —  ....  After  entering  church, 
opened  a  book  which  I  found  near  me,  and  read  in  it  the  para- 
ble of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Struck  by  these  words :  '  I  am 
the  good  shepherd  ;  the  good  shepherd  giveth  His  life  for  the 
sheep.  But  he  that  is  an  hirehng,  and  not  the  shepherd, 
whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  seeth  the  wolf  coming,  and 
leaveth  the  sheep  and  fleeth.'  Appropriate  words  !  The  wolf 
had  been  running  upon  me,  a  poor  helpless  sheep.  Christ 
would  not  flee  and  leave  me  to  perish.  Good  hope  in  my  soul 
through  grace.  During  the  service,  the  Spirit  of  God  filled 
my  soul  with  sweet  meditations — such  as  come  in  freely  and 
spontaneously,  without  effort — ^not  being  of  nature,  but  of  grace. 
A  divine  light  shed  abroad  in  my  soul ;  spiritual  discernment 
given  to  me,  and  the  glory  of  God  revealed. 

"  The  Lord  made  Phil.  iii.  sweet  to  me,  and  encouraging. 
I  saw  the  heinous  nature  of  all  those  carnal  law-constrained 
workings  which  are  opposed  to  '  a  serving  of  God  in  the  spirit, 
a  glorying  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  having  no  confidence  in  the 
flesh.'  Self,  that  hell-deep  gulf  of  all  things  sensual  and 
devilish,  made  to  give  place  to  'the  spirit  of  power,  and  of  love, 
and  of  a  sound  mind.'  By  abiding  in  Christ,  as  my  perfect 
righteousness,  it  is  easy  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  holiness.  '  Take 
my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me,'  &c.,  '  for  my  yoke  is  easy, 
and  my  burden  is  light.'     Blessed  words !    But  if  there  be 


JOURNAL.  137 

words  in  Scripture  which,  of   all  others,  the  natural  carnal 
mind  can  least  understand,  it  is  these." 

An  American  writer  liappilj  contrasts  two  classes 
of  Christians — those  whom  he  terms  "  God's  opera- 
tives," and  those  "  vivid  pietists  of  glowing  sensibilities, 
who  can  do  little  but  settle  the  metaphysics  of  faith, 
count  frames,  and  gauge  feelings."  Mt.  Hewitson  was 
eminently  one  of  "God's  operatives."  "  Fervent  in 
spirit,"  he  was  "  diligent  in  business."  His  special 
business  at  this  season  was  the  acquisition  of  the  Por- 
tuguese language.  It  will  be  seen  by  and  by  with 
what  amazing  energy  he  had  prosecuted  the  work, 
accomplishing  within  little  more  than  two  months  a 
labor  ordinarily  occupying  at  least  a  year.  Little  trace 
of  this  appears  in  his  letters  or  journal.  But  the 
reader,  by  knowing  it,  will  be  better  able  to  appreciate 
the  force  of  spiritual  character  which  could  combine 
with  an  occupation  so  engrossing,  and  withal  so  formal, 
a  freshness  of  heavenly  fellowship  such  as  the  journal 
unfolds.     We  present  some  further  extracts : — 

"  Thursday,  January  9,  1845. — Comfort  amidst  all  the 
varied  occupations  of  the  day,  and  a  realization  of  such  near- 
ness to  the  Lord  as  is  enjoyed  when  the  soul  is  able  without 
effort  to  make  transition  from  study  or  any  other  secular  occu- 
pation to  prayer.  Holiness  is  a  habit  of  the  mind — a  setting 
of  the  Lord  continually  before  one's  eyes — a  constant  walking 
with  God,  as  one  with  whom  we  are  agreed.  Lord  Jesus,  make 
me  thus  holy,  changing  me  into  Thine  own  image  !" 

^^  Friday,  January  10. — Two  hours  nearly  in  company  with 


138  MEMOIR   OF  REV.    W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Mr.  Pinheiro,  tbe  Portuguese  master.  My  spirits  lightened 
and  cheerful  during  the  lesson — a  consequence  of  the  peace  of 
God,  which  I  inwardly  enjoyed.  My  goings  under  me  enlarged. 
Experience  has  clearly  shown  me  that  nothing  but  grace  can 
enlarge  the  heart  of  the  behever,  Grace  does  everything. 
Read  before  dinner,  as  a  means  of  sanctifying  the  meal,  Rev. 
vii.  The  Word  blessed  to  me,  lifting  me  upwards  to  Christ. 
Tried  to  engage  in  intercession  on  behalf  of  some  for  whom  I 
had  not  prayed  in  the  morning,  but  miserably  hindered,  Martha- 
like, by  the  desire  of  doing  many  things  before  bed-time. 
'  One  thing  is  needful.'  ....  Shadows  of  darkness  fell  upon 
my  soul.  Darkness  is  Satan's  kingdom.  He  is  *  the  power  of 
darkness ;'  i.  e.,  the  prince  who  rules  over  it.  Last  night  the 
word  of  God  taught  me  that  it  is  only  by  being  '  turned  fi'om 
darkness  unto  light'  that  the  soul  is  '  turned  from  the  power 

of  Satan  unto  God' — a  truth  not  to  be  forgotten Peace 

and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  is  an  oil  which  gives  sweet  motion 
to  the  wheels  of  the  soul." 

"  Saturday,  January  11. —  ....  We  are  apt,  through  the 
restlessness  and  forwardness  of  the  flesh,  to  be  carried  out  to 
action  by  self-will,  mistaking  it  for  the  will  which  is  wrought 
by  the  Spirit  in  meek  and  humble  hearts Having  com- 
mitted  my  way  to  the  Lord,  pointed  out   to  Mr.  M ,  a 

Roman  Catholic,  the  error  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  reference 
to  the  way  of  pardon  and  acceptance.  Spent  some  time  after- 
wards in  reading  and  writing  Portuguese.  The  Lord  enable 
me  to  learn  the  language,  and  to  use  it  as  an  instrument  in 
His  service  !  My  work  went  on  smoothly  to-day.  Watch, 
my  soul,  for  a  calm  is  often  followed  by  a  storm.  Satan's 
opportunity  is — a  soul  off  its  guard." 

"  Sabbath,  January  12. —  ....  Had  some  delight  in  the 
word,  1  Thess.  ii.,  '  That  ye  would  walk  worthy  of  God,  who 
hath  called  you  unto  His  kingdom  and  glory.'  These  words, 
'  Ye  are  my  glory  and  joy,'  with  the  immediately  preceding 
context,  made  me  feel  a  longing  to  be  the  means  of  bringing 


JOUilNAL.  139 

souls  to  Christ.  Afterwards  a  similar  longing,  or  rather  an 
earnest  desire  to  be  employed  in  the  blessed  work  of  preaching 
the  gospel,  awakened  within  me  while  reading  some  of  Mr. 
M'Cheyne's  letters.  My  soul  lifting  itself  up,  or,  to  speak 
more  truly,  lifted  up  by  the  Spirit  unto  the  Lord,  with  longings 
that  could  not  be  uttered.  Desirous  of  walking,  before  all 
this  family,  in  a  manner  more  worthy  of  the  Lord,  if  by  any 
means  some  of  them  might  be  saved.     After  prayer,  spoke  to 

poor  Joao  M on  the  way  of  salvation Had  some 

consolation  in  meditating  on  the  Lord's  coming.  Hope  in  me 
has  too  little  power.  I  exercise  it  too  little  by  looking  forward 
in  the  light  of  prophecy  to  the  glory  which  is  to  be  revealed." 

"  January  14. — Have  not  been  zealous  in  the  cause  of  Christ 
this  day.  When  the  suggestion  came  into  my  mind  that  I 
ought  to  speak  a  word  for  Christ,  not  very  ready  to  act  upon 
it.  Self-working  strongly,  and  making  me  to  feel  it  as  a  kind  of 
hardship  that  I  could  not  speak  a  single  word  on  spiritual 
things  without  looking  to  and  resting  on  Christ  entirely  for  the 
blessing.  Proud,  stubborn,  unbelieving  self!  'O  Lord,  be 
Thou  exalted  in  Thine  own  strength.'  God  alone  can  make 
me  an  able  minister  of  the  New.  Testament.  I  am  a  poor, 
helpless  thing — all  my  sufl&ciency  is  of  God." 

"  Wednesday^  January  15. — 'Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is,  there  is  liberty,'  for  the  soul  is  made  willing  by  His  gracious 
power.  '  If  any  man  minister,  let  him  do  it  as  of  the  ability 
which  God  giveth,  that  God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified 
through  Jesus  Christ.'  There  is  no  evangelic,  acceptable,  God- 
glorifying  obedience,  which  flows  not  from  the  grace  or  ability 
that  God.  giveth.  Though  suggestions  appear  to  be  good,  yet 
it  is  necessary  to  '  try  the  spirits  whether  they  be  of  God.' 
'  Examine  all  things  ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.'  '  Be  not 
soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be  troubled,  neither  by  spirit,  nor  by 
word,'  &c.  '  Some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to 
seducing  spirits.'  By  acting  on  the  impulses  and  suggestions 
of  seducing  spirits,  men  were  gradually  drawn  away  into  all 


140  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   IT.   IIEWITSON. 

the  self-righteous  and  superstitious  practices  of  Popery ;  and 
what  Satan  has  succeeded  in  doing  once,  -will  he  not  try,  if 
possible,  to  do  again  ?  '  He  is  transformed  into  an  angel  of 
light'     He  would  deceive  if  he  could,  the  very  elect." 

"  Thursday^  January  16. —  ....  The  flesh,  the  carnal 
mind,  at  work.  The  operation  of  Satan  manifest  and  palpa- 
ble. Restored  to  some  measure  of  peace  by  means  of  reading 
Rom.  V.  (see  verses  8,  9,  10). 

^''January  18. — 0  my  soul,  my  soul !  look  to  nothing  but 
Christ — rest  on  nothing  but  Him — make  an  effort  to  do  noth- 
ing goo4  except  in  His  strength.  Have  I  not  often  followed 
after  sanctification  in  the  power  of  nature,  and  found  the  law,  in 
consequence,  alive  and  strong — binding  for  me  burdens  that  I 
was  not  able  to  bear  ?  .  .  .  .  Not  nature,  but  grace,  must  carry 
forward  the  work  of  my  sanctification.  To  be  busy  in  this  work, 
without  falling  into  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness,  and  therefore 
into  a  spirit  of  bondage  and  disquietude,  is  the  most  difficult 
thing  in  the  world.  No  holiness  without  a  life  of  faith  and  of 
abiding  in  Christ." 

^'■Sabbath,  January  19. — I  believe  that  none  of  God's  chil- 
dren suSer  as  I  do  from  inward  assaults  of  the  flesh  and  Satan. 
I  have  spent  much  of  this  day  in  the  valley  of  Bochim,  and 
have  believed  in  Jesus  amidst  much  affliction  from  the  working 
of  sin  within  me,  but — O  !  blessed  be  the  name  of  God  my 
Father — likewise  amidst  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  often  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory. 

"The  Lord  has  been  dealing  wonderfully  with  me  since  I 
came  to  Lisbon.  Sometimes  hell  has  been  rolling  floods  of  cor- 
ruption and  bitterness  through  my  soul ;  sometimes  I  have 
been  filled  with  the  light,  and  glory,  and  unutterable  joy  of 
heaven.  What  is  to  be  the  end  of  these  things  ?  For  what 
is  the  Lord  preparing  me  ?  *  He  will  guide  me  with  His  coun  • 
sel.' 

"  Had  my  little  class.  Subject,  Gal.  i.  Had  something  of 
the  spirit  of  freedom  and  power  iu  speaking  to-night.    Before 


JOURNAL.  141 

meeting  with  the  children.  I  had  prayed  more  for  their  conver- 
sion than  on  former  occasions.  In  preparatory  prayer,  re- 
strained by  that  kind  of  unbelief,  and  want  of  love  to  souls, 
which  consists  in  not  looking  to  the  Lord  with  confident  ex- 
pectation of  success.  The  thing  meant  might  clothe  itself  in 
such  language  as  this — '  In  answer  to  prayer,  the  Lord  can,  if 
He  will,  bear  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace ;  but  I  do 
not  expect  that  He  really  will  do  so  in  the  present  instance.' 
Vexed  on  account  of  this  heart-hardening  skepticism,  I  cried 
out  to  the  Lord  for  a  mountain-removing  faith — for  more  faith, 
more  love,  more  confident  hope.  My  cries  not  wholly  in  vain. 
My  mind  deeply  solemnized.  The  children  seemed  profoundly 
attentive.  Work,  Lord !  '  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by 
my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.' 

^'■Monday,  January  20. — Struck  by  Jer.  x.  23  :  *0  Lord,  I 
know  that  the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself:  it  is  not  in  man 
that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps.'  Knowing  that  *in  God's 
hand  are  all  my  ways,'  I  thanked  Him  for  bringing  me  to  Lis- 
bon, not  doubting  that  He  would  thus  serve  some  gracious  pur- 
pose, though  thatpm-pose  was  at  present  wholly  unknown  to  me." 

Coleridge,  in  his  Hymn  on  Chamouni,  referring  to 
tlie  Mer  de  Glaee,  speaks  of  the  "living  flowers  which 
skirt  the  eternal  frost."  Not  less  touching  is  the  spir- 
itual phenomenon  set  forth  in  the  extract  which 
follows — the  desolate  barrenness  of  nature,  and  the 
living  fragrance  of  grace,  in  the  little  territory  of  ca 
single  soul.  In  every  believer,  indeed,  the  phenomenon 
exists ;  but  here  it  has  a  vividness  not  often  seen.  In 
the  light  of  this  feature  of  his  spiritual  life,  it  will  not 
be  uninstructive  afterwards  to  mark  the  extreme  sim- 
plicity of  Mr.  Hewitson's  preaching.  If  he  held  up 
before  men  less  the  subjective  experience  than  the  ob- 


142  MExMOlR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

jective  Christ,  it  was  not  because  he  was  himself  with- 
out experience,  but  because,  in  his  own  daily  conflict, 
he  overcame  by  simple  faith  in  a  living  Lord. 

'''  Monday,  January  20,  1845. —  ....  How  amazing  the 
breach,  the  interval,  between  the  flesh  and  the  Spirit  in  a  child 
of  God  !  The  distance  between  them  is  that  which  separates 
heaven  from  hell.  The  breach  cannot  be  healed,  the  enmity 
cannot  be  reconciled — the  warfare  is  exterminating.  The  flesh 
is  irretrievably  lost,  .sunk  into  an  infinite  depth  of  perdition. 
How  often  it  alarms  me,  and  fills  me  with  dismay,  by  the 
manifestations  of  its  fiendish,  hell-born  malignity,  its  implacable 
rage  against  all  that  is  holy  and  God-glorifying,  its  blasphemous 
atheism,  and  desperate  love  of  sin.  It  is  that  which  cried  out, 
'  Away  with  Him  !  Crucify  Him !'  It  is  the  murderer  of  God's 
only-begotten  Son.  God  declares  that  it  is  enmity  against 
Himself,  and  that  it  cannot,  will  not,  be  subject  to  His  law.  0, 
then,  my  soul,  be  not  driven  to  despair  by  finding  that  God's 
description  of  the  carnal  nature  which  cleaves  to  thee  is  literal- 
ly true.  That  same  flesh  which  nailed  God's  Son  to  the  cross, 
will  not  suffer  Him  to  have  a  jilace,  if  it  can  only  get  its  will, 
within  the  believer's  soul." 

The  next  extract  illustrates  Mr.  Hewitson's  remark- 
able power  of  spiritual  analysis. 

"  Nothing  is  to  me  a  greater  proof  of  the  flesh  being  utterly 
Satanic  than  the  fact  that,  though  Satan  *  work  in  the  children 
of  disobedience,'  they  mistake  his  operations  for  the  spontaneous 
movements  of  their  own  will.  They  walk  according  to  '  the 
Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,'  and  they  are  not  conscious  of 
the  fact — their  walk  is  so  entirely  according  to  the  desire  of 
their  own  hearts.  There  is  such  a  resemblance  between  the 
devil's  character  and  their  own,  that  they  do  not  perceive  any 
difference.     A  soul  darkened  and  deceived  by  the  joint-working 


JOURNAL.  ^  143 

of  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  appropriates  as  its  own  the  devil's 
words,  and  identifies  its  own  interests  with  his. 

"The  soul  often,  in  its  ignorance  of  the  flesh  on  the  one 
hand,  and  of  God  on  the  other,  is  led  to  torment  itself. 
Hence  the  bloody  rites  of  paganism— the  fires  of  Moloch — the 
self-inflicted  tortures  of  Hinduism.  Hence  the  penances  and 
mortifications  of  Popery.  Hence  the  mistaken  duties  and  exer- 
cises of  the  young  convert.  Strange  though  it  seems,  the  flesh, 
which  seeks  gratification,  draws  the  ill-informed,  half-enlight- 
ened believer  to  the  work  of  painful  penance.  By  doing  this  it 
greatly  deceives,  for  it  represents  the  painful  discipline  which  it 
prescribes  as  being  contrary  to  its  own  nature,  and  therefore  in 
accordance  with  the  nature  of  God.  It  thus  contrives  to 
exhibit  God  in  the  light  of  one  who  is  stern,  pitiless,  and 
inexorable.  It  is  itself  the  tormentor,  and  yet  cries  out  to 
the  gentle  and  compassionate  Saviour,  '  Art  Thou  come  to 
torment  us  V 

"  This  is  one  of  the  depths  of  Satan,  This  is  one  of  the  most 
deceitful  and  ruinous  works  of  the  flesh.  The  eflfect  of  it  is  to 
make  the  poor  sinner  unable  to  realize  any  comfortable  experi- 
ence of  the  ti'uth  that  *  God  is  love,'  and  to  entangle  him  in 
vain  ^endeavors  to  establish  a  righteousness  of  his  own,  while 
the  righteousness  of  God  is  not  acknowledged  truly  and  sub- 
mitted to  from  the  heart.  O  that  I  may  not  be  deceived  by 
such  ruinou^s  sophistries  of  the  flesh,  or  caught  in  such  deep- 
laid  snares  ! 

"  In  religion,  as  well  as  in  other  things,  I  may  walk  after  the 
flesh  instead  of  walking  after  the  Spirit.  '  Walk  in  the  Spirit, 
and  ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh.'  Otherwise  to  re- 
sist the  lust  of  the  flesh,  is  merely  to  oppose  one  lust  of  the 
flesh  to  another,  and  is  altogether  vain,  or  rather  worse  than 
vain,  as  regards  the  end  of  sanctification.  O  my  soul,  '  ac- 
quaint thyself  with  God'  more  and  more — ever  be  learning  the 
lesson  that  '  God  is  love^  '  well  pleased  with  thee  for  the  sake 
of  ChrisCs  righteousness.^     '  God  is  love.' 


14:4:  MEMOIR   OF   KEV.    W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

We  give  some  farther  extracts.  Our  limits  require 
that  they  be  but  fragmentary. 

^^  Tuesday,  January  2\,  1Mb After  my  meditations 

and  prayers,  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  turn  away  from  me  the 
host  of  spiritual  foes  who  had  been  assailing  me.  How  sweet  is 
a  calm  after  such  a  storm  !  ....  If  the  friend  even  that  loves 
me  most  were  to  get  such  a  sight  of  my  heart  as  I  have  got  a 
thousand  times,  he  would  shrink  from  me  surely  with  abhor- 
rence, and  say  of  me,  *  Such  a  man  ought  not  to  live.'  Lord 
Jesus,  thine  eye  is  on  my  heart  every  moment.  I  am  glad 
that  it  is  so,  for  I  would  open  up  before  Thee  all  my  pollution. 
Lord,  Thou  bearest  with  me;  Thou  dost  not  spurn  me  from 
Thy  feet  as  one  too  loathsome  to  wash  them  with  his  tears,  or 
too  guilty  to  be  washed  in  Thy  blood." 

"  Wednesday,  January  22, —  ....  Tempted  to  look  upon 
God  as  if  He  were  narrowly  watching  me  for  the  purpose  of 
finding  fault.  Convinced  that  this  was  a  slanderous  misrepre- 
sentation of  God.  My  soul,  from  this  day  remember  that, 
though  God  looks  as  a  judge  stern  and  inexorable  on  the  works 
of  those  who  are  laboring  in  the  flesh  to  justify  their  own  souls. 
He  looks  on  the  works  of  those  who  are  already  justified  by 
faith  with  the  heart  and  eye  of  a  loving  Father.  Read  to-day 
1  Tim.  iv.,  Jer.  xii..  Gen.  viii.,  Joshua  viii.  (the  two  last  chapters 
comforting  and  refreshing  especially),  and  Rom  xi.,  which  was 
to  me  a  word  of  admonition  and  warning." 

"  Thursday,  January  23. — Dangerous  to  be  *  working  out 
our  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,'  under  the  sense  of  our 
doing  so  being  a  condition  of  our  justification.  No  true  holi- 
ness except  that  which  springs  from  love  to  God  ;  and  no  true 
love  to  God  without  peace  of  conscience.  Oh,  in  what  a  plight 
I  have  come  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  to  be  cured !  How  leprous, 
loathsome  !  Most  poor  and  miserable  !  If  Jesus  were  not 
God,  He  could  not  save  me.  Oh,  to  keep  nearer  to  the  cross  ! 
Oh,  to  deal  more  with  the  blood  of  atonement!  ....  Christ's 


JOUKKAL.  145 

blood  is  a  greater  atonement  for  my  sins  than  an  eternity  of 
torments  would  be,  suffered  by  myself  in  hell.  The  Lord  will 
not  cast  me  out,  nor  let  any  one  pluck  me  out  of  His  hand. 
If  I  have  not  come  to  Christ,  I  know  not  what  coming  to 
Christ  means  ;  and  the  word  is  sure,  *  Him  that  cometh  unto 
Me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.'" 

'■'•Friday^  January  24. — Oh,  how  miserable  to  be  for  the 
least  part  of  a  day  without  any  feeling  of  love  to  God  in  the 
heart,  shrinking  under  an  apprehension  of  His  wrath  and  en- 
mity !  Shall  I  ever  be  of  any  use  to  my  Lord,  as  a  vessel  of 
grace  ?  '  O  Lord,  I  have  been  as  a  beast  before  Thee.'  '  O 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body 
of  this  death  !'  To  me  this  night  belong  '  shame  and  confusion 
of  face ;'  yet  I  would  endeavor  to  say,  *  Thanks  unto  God, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' " 

On  the  next  extract  we  set  a  high  value.  It  tells 
whence  he  drew  all  his  strength  and  joy. 

"  Sabbath,  January  26,  1845. —  ....  Went  to  church. 

Mr.  P 's  subject  was  submission  to  the  will  of  God  in  time 

of  trouble,  according  to  our  Lord's  example.  His  remarks  on 
this  subject  led  me  to  think  that  I  ought  perhaps  to  submit 
more  to  the  spiritual  influence  by  which  I  am  often  straitened 
in  my  goings  (as  being  an  afflictive  visitation,  though  not  di- 
rectly from  God,  yet  permitted  by  Him  for  the  trial  of  my  faith 
and  obedience),  waiting  upon  Him  to  send  me  deliverance. 
Acting  on  this  impression,  I  found  myself  soon  miserably 
straitened,  and,  after  returning  home,  experienced  at  work  in 
me,  not  so  much  a  spirit  of  submission  and  obedience,  as  one 
of  rebellion  and  of  utter  powerlessness  to  serve  the  Lord.  '  Try 
the  spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God.'  Every  spirit  that  seeks 
to  exhibit  God  as  unreconciled  and  irreconcilable,  without  some 
doings  or  abstainings  of  my  own,  is  devilish,  and  to  be  sub- 
mitted to,  no,  not  for  a  moment. 
7 


i-lG  .ME.MOIK   OF    KEV.    ^V.    11.    IJEWlTtiOX 

"  The  quietism  that  yields  to  the  impulse  of  every  spirit  is 
devilish,  '  "When  they  shall  say  unto  you,  Seek  unto  them  that 
have  familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep  and  that  mut- 
ter :  should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God  ?  For  the  living 
to  the  dead  ?  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  ;  if  they  speak 
not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them.'  Therefore  '  believe  not  every  spirit ;'  but  try  the  spirits 
by  the  Word,  and  those  which  contradict  the  Word  submit  to 
not  for  an  instant,  but  fight  against  them  in  the  name  and 
strength  of  the  Lord.  '  Wherewith  shall  a  young  man  cleanse 
his  way  V  By  taking  heed  thereto  according  to  the  impulses 
and  operations  of  spirits  within  ?  No,  but  '  by  taking  heed 
thereto  according  to  Thy  Word.'  The  Spirit  of  God  uses  no 
other  sword  than  the  Word  of  God.  Christ  fouffht  aarainst 
Satan  with  no  other  words  throughout  the  temptation  of  the 
wilderness. 

"  Were  I  not  a  '  beast  before  God,'  I  would  bear  these  truths 
continually  in  remembrance,  and  act  according  to  them  at  all 
times. 

" '  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  a  light  unto  my 
path.'  It  is  devilish  to  walk  by  other  lamps  and  lights  than 
this.  '  Uphold  my  goings  in  Thy  word,  that  my  footsteps  slip 
not.'  No  secure  walking  except  in  God's  Word.  '  Order 
my  steps  in  Thy  word,  and  let  not  any  iniquity  have  dominion 
over  me' — showing  plainly  that  the  only  sure  defence  against 
the  reigning  power  of  sin  is,  to  have  my  steps  ordered  in  the 
Word  of  God." 

An  interesting  notice  follows,  under  the  same  date : 

"  This  day,  in  returning  from  church,  was  informed  that  a 

converted  Spaniard,  Dr. ,  had  commenced  preaching  the 

gospel  in  his  own  house  to  those  of  the  Portuguese  who  were 

inclined  by  the  Lord  to  attend.     I  attended  at  Dr. 's  this 

evening.     About  sixteen  Portuguese,  besides  a  few  English 
people,  were  present.     We  were  met  in  an  upper  room  in  the 


JOUKNAL.  147 

third  story.  During  the  service,  which  was  plain  and  simple, 
the  62d  chapter  of  Isaiah  and  the  12tli  of  Luke  were  read: 
both  exceedingly  appropriate.  The  sermon  was  of  consider- 
able length — the  text,  *  Fear  not,  little  flock,  for  it  is  youi 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom.' " 

He  who  led  Simon  Peter  to  the  liouse-top  to  fast 
and  pray,  whilst  the  messengers  from  Cornelius  drew 
nigh  to  Joppa  to  tell  him  of  the  work  aAvaiting  him 
in  Csesarea,  is  seen  leading  Mr.  Hewitson  in  the  two 
entries  which  follow : — 

^'' Monday,  January  27,  1845. — Fasted  till  between  seven 
and  eight  o'clock,  p.m.  Humbled  myself  first  of  all  on  account 
of  my  sins,  and  especially  on  account  of  the  workings  of  a  self- 
righteous  and  legal  spirit.  After  confession  of  sin,  and  praying 
for  my  own  soul,  I  ciied  unto  the  Lord  to  save  all  the  dear 
souls  in  my  father's  bouse.  Again  prayed  that  I  might  be  en- 
abled by  grace  to  go  free  from  all  whereby  I  have  of  late  been 
brought  into  bondage  ;  likewise  that  the  Lord  would  direct  my 
way  to  Madeira,  or  whithersoever  He  saw  fit  to  send  me.  The 
Lord  answer  this  prayer  for  good  to  my  soul  and  glory  to  His 
own  blessed  name !" 

"  Tuesday,  January  28. — Mr.  A called  this  evening  to 

tell  me  that  Dr.  Kalley  had  arrived  from  Madeira ;  and,  while 
he  was  here,  a  letter  came  from  Mr.  Sym,  intimating  that  I  had 
the  consent  of  the  Colonial  Committee  to  go  immediately  to 
Madeira.  Thus,  in  a  marvellous  manner,  the  Lord  has  been 
answering  the  prayer  which  yesterday  I  offered  up  for  direction 
and  counsel.     *  Call  upon  me,  and  I  will  answer  thee.' " 

His  way  was  now  made  plain  before  him.  The 
work,  as  we  shall  see,  to  which  he  was  called,  was  one 
of  no  common  peril.     Our  closing  extract  from  the 


148  MEMOIR  OF  llEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Journal  shows  his  state  of  mind  in  the  prospect  of 
setting  out : — 

"  Thursday,  January  30,  1845. — Many  circumstances  of  a 
trying  kind  to  flesh  and  blood  rose  up  before  my  view.  But 
the  Lord  has  made  the  way  straight  before  my  face,  and  I 
would  not  turn  away  back.  Had  comfort  in  the  prospect  of 
going  to  Madeira.  I  may  say  truly,  '  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit, 
not  knowing  the  things  that  await  me  there.'  Whatever  these 
things  may  be,  0  let  them  be  sufferings  and  afflictions  for 
Christ's  sake,  rather  than  that  I  should  be  allowed  to  sin  ! 
'  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  V  " 

About  the  middle  of  February,  Mr.  Hewitson  sailed 
from  Lisbon  for  Madeira,  and  after  a  voyage  of  five 
or  six  days  reached  the  scene  of  the  memorable  work. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1844. 

Madeira — Antichrist — Original  N'arrative  by  Dr.  Kalley — His  Early 
Labors — Awakening  among  Portuguese — Open  Air  Meetings — 
Effects  of  Reading  the  Bible — Persecution — Bible  declared  "  a 
Book  from  Hell" — Excommunication — Imprisonment  of  Dr.  Kalley 
— Gospel  preached  in  Jail — Hatred  of  Bible — Sentence  of  Death 
— Assassination  recommended — Serra  Prisoners — Singing  Praises 
— Dr.  Kalley  visits  Lisbon — Meets  Mr.  Hewitson. 

The  work  in  Madeira  has  been  designated  "tlie 
greatest  fact  of  modern  missions."*  Eight  hundred 
exiles,  driven  from  their  native  island  for  the  sake 
of  Christ,  stand,  before  the  eye  of  Christendom,  the 
fruit  of  that  work. 

A  necessary  secrecy  shrouded,  at  the  time,  the  de- 
tails of  the  work  from  public  view ;  but  the  cause  of 
the  secrecy  exists  no  longer.  They  are  published  now, 
not  to  magnify  the  human  instrumentality,  but  to  the 
glory  of  the  Divine  Worker. 

At  a  time  when  the  Eomish  Antichrist  is  going  forth 
with  renewed  zeal  to  "  deceive  the  nations,"  the  record 
of  a  work  which,  in  one  of  the  darkest  spots  of  his 

*  Report  of  Colonial  Committee  to  General  Assembly  of  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  by  Rev.  J.  Bonar,  convener.    May,  1850. 


150  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   II.   HEWITSON. 

dark  domain,  rescued  from  liis  grasp  so  goodly  a  rem- 
nant, seems  not  inopportune.  The  record  will  prove 
tliat  the  great  Criminal,  who  for  so  many  centuries 
"  wore  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High, "  remains  un- 
changed and  unchangeable.  And  it  may  stimulate 
the  Church  to  earnest  effort  in  proclaiming  every- 
where, even  amidst  the  thickest  darkness,  the  Master's 
gracious  appeal — "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that 
ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not 
of  her  plagues." 

The  two  great  instruments  in  this  work  were  Dr. 
Kalley  and  Mr.  Hewitson.  The  former  laid  the  foun- 
dation ;  the  latter  reared  the  superstructure.  "We  are 
in  circumstances  to  furnish  the  reader  with  accurate 
details  of  each  of  the  two  stages  of  this  work. 

The  earlier  stage,  accomplished  instrumentally  by 
Dr.  Kalley,  the  reader  wUl  be  glad  to  find  narrated 
chiefly  by  Dr.  Kalley  himself,  in  a  series  of  "  Notes," 
kindly  contributed  by  him  for  this  Memoir.  It  is 
necessary  that  the  labors  of  the  one  evangelist  be  un- 
derstood, in  order  to  a  right  appreciation  of  the  labors 
of  the  other.  The  "  Notes"  are  dated  "  Beyroot,  15th 
January,  1851." 

"  In  the  beginning  of  my  intercourse  with  the  Madeirenses, 
I  met  few  of  them  who  had  ever  seen  a  Bible,  or  seemed  to 
know  that  the  New  Testament  was  written  by  men  who  went 
about  with  the  Lord  Jesus  when  He  dwelt  on  the  earth — who 
saw  His  miracles — heard  His  words — gazed  upon  Him  as  He 
went  up  to  heaven — and  described  what  they  knew  by  the 


NOTES   BY   DR.    KALLEY,  151 

testimony  of  their  own  senses.  When  one  part  of  it  was  shown 
to  them  as  the  work  of  Peter,  another  as  that  of  John,  and  a 
third  as  that  of  Matthew,  some  doubted,  and  wanted  proofs — 
others  listened  with  eager  interest  while  a  portion  of  it  was 
read  to  them  as  a  specimen  of  its  contents. 

"In  1839  a  few  showed  a  good  deal  of  desire  to  read  and 
hear  the  Word  of  God. 

"In  1840  the  interest  in  it  increased  much,  and  many  adults 
went  to  S'chool,  that  they  might  learn  to  read  the  Bible. 

"In  1841  it  went  on  increasing  :  the  attention  of  the  Gov- 
ernment at  Lisbon  was  directed  to  the  movemetit  among  the 
people,  and  the  chief  ecclesiastics  in  Madeira  were  instructed  to 
suppress  it.  As  soon  as  this  was  known,  there  was  such  a  gen- 
eral expression  of  popular  feeling  as  prevented  for  the  time  any 
inquisitorial  measures  which  might  have  been  intended. 

"In  1842,  especially  in  the  summer  and  autumn,  people 
came  in  large  numbers  to  hear  the  Scriptures  read  and  ex- 
plained. Many  walked  ten  or  twelve  hours,  and  climbed  over 
mountains  three  thousand  feet  high,  in  coming  and  returning 
to  their  homes.  The  meetings  were  solemn — the  hearers  lis- 
tened with  unwearied  attention — a  hand  was  often  observed 
stealing  up  to  remove  a  tear — and  sometimes  there  was  a  gen- 
eral audible  expression  of  wonder.  This  was  especially  the 
case  when  the  subject  of  remark  was  the  love  of  God  in  not 
sparing  his  own  Son,  but  giving  Him  up  to  die  for  the  sins  of 
a  whole  world,  or  the  love  of  Christ  in  voluntarily  taking  upon 
Himself  the  wrath  and  curse  which  we  deserved. 

"  For  several  months  I  believe  that  there  were  not  fewer 
than  1000  persons  present  each  Sabbath  ;  generally  they  ex- 
ceeded 2000,  occasionally  reached  3000,  and  once  were  reck- 
oned at  5000.  On  the  last-mentioned  occasion  seventy  Testa- 
ments were  sold,  and  many  intending  purchasers  were  disap- 
pointed. These  meetings  were  in  the  open  air.  During  part 
of  the  time  they  were  held  on  a  ridge,  having  a  deep,  steep 
valley  on  the  east  and   another  on  the  west,  while  the  moun- 


152  ME.MOIR   OF    REV.    W.    H.    IIEWITSON. 

tain  rose  almost  perpendicularly  to  a  great  height  on  the  south. 
The  people  sat  in  a  clear  space  near  the  house  which  I  occu- 
pied— all  around  was  covered  with  trees  clustered  with  grapes. 
We  had  a  few  simple  hymns,  expressive  of  adoration,  gratitude 
and  praise.  The  tunes  usually  sung  were  the  Portuguese 
Hymn,  Old  Hundred,  and  Martyrdom ;  and  there  were  few 
who  did  not  at  least  attempt  to  join  in  singing.  You  may  im- 
agine the  interest  of  such  a  scene  in  a  Popish  country  1 

"  In  some  places  the  general  topics  of  every-day  conversa- 
tion, in  walking  along  the  roads,  or  resting  a  little  from  labor 
in  the  fields,  were  the  Word  of  God — the  one  sacrifice  for  sin — 
free  salvation — the  security  of  God's  promises — the  love  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ — peace  with  God — the  hope  of  glory — the 
folly  of  image-worship — the  uselessness  of  penance.  Often, 
too,  the  hymns  of  the  Sabbath  were  heard  through  the  week, 
among  the  fields  and  vineyards  ;  and  there  was  much  search- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  to  know  the  Lord's  declarations  on  the 
subjects  brought  before  them." 

The  circumstances  whicli  led  to  this  awakening  Dr. 
Kalley  thus  traces : — 

"  Gratuitous  medical  aid  induced  many  to  visit  me,  and  ex- 
perience of  benefits  which  they  prized  led  them  to  regard  me 
as  a  friend.  When  conversing  with  them  about  the  diseases 
of  their  bodies,  and  the  remedies  which  they  were  to  employ, 
it  required  little  effort  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  disease  of 
the  soul,  the  Physician,  the  remedy,  and  the  result ;  and  thus 
they  listened  with  less  prejudice  than  they  would  probably  have 
done  in  other  circumstances. 

"  Regarding  the  Holy  Bible  as  the  only  trustworthy  source 
of  information  on  these  subjects,  I  advised  them  to  search  it  if 
they  wished  to  attain  certainty  concerning  God,  the  soul, 
lieaven,  hell,  and  eternity  ;  and  showed  them,  in  as  simple  and 
I'arailiar  a  manner  as  I  could,  that  the  Scriptures  contain  a  real 
revelation  from  God  himself,  by  which  He  intends  that  men 


NOTES  BY  DR.  KALLEY.  153 

should  learn  and  understand  the  things  that  affect  their  own 
happiness  now  and  forever.  When  they  found  difficulties  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  came  to  ask  explanations,  parallel  and  ex- 
planatory passages  were  pointed  out.  They  were  thus  referred 
back  to  the  Word  of  God,  urged  to  apply  to  the  Author  him- 
self for  wisdom  to  understand  His  book,  relying  on  the  prom- 
ise in  James  i.  5,  and  warned  to  beware  of  receiving  anything 
as  truth  affecting  their  soul's  eternal  welfare  unless  it  were  clear- 
ly taught  by  God  in  His  Word.  At  the  same  time  they  were 
shown  the  reasonableness  of  depending  on  His  testimony,  as 
He  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the  truth,  nor  have  any  induce- 
ment to  deceive. 

"  Many,  following  this  plan  in  simplicity,  were  taught  of  God, 
and  felt  that  their  hopes  of  peace  with  the  Most  High,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  Him  forever,  did  not  rest  on  the  sandy  foundation 
of  human  authority,  but  on  His  who  will  judge  the  world  at 
last,  and  who  said,  '  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my 
word  shall  not  pass  away.'  This  gave  them  much  stabihty  in 
holding  the  truth. 

"  Some  of  them  read  the  Scriptures  for  a  considerable  pe- 
riod without  seeing  that  God  in  them  condemns  many  of  the 
doctrines  and  practices  of  Popery.  When  they  perceived  that 
masses,  penances,  purgatory,  and  indulgences  for  sin,  were  in- 
consistent with  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  one  sacrifice  of  Im- 
raanuel,  and  the  declarations  of  God  concerning  it,  many,  be- 
ing alarmed,  consulted  their  priest,  and  were  exposed  to  some 
degree  of  persecution  for  talking,  or  daring  to  think,  about  such 
things. 

"  This  led  to  further  inquiry  as  to  what  is  really  the  truth  ; 
and  by  the  examination  they  were  the  more  confirmed  in  it. 
This  fitted  them  for  a  more  bold  maintenance  of  the  truth,  and 
this  again  to  greater  trial,  sometimes  in  private  and  sometimes 
more  publicly  ;  and  by  a  repetition  of  this  kind  of  process  they 
were  prepared  for  heavier  sufferings.  The  ground  is  loosened 
round  the  roots  of  a  sapling  when  it  is  shaken  by  a  smart 

7* 


154  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

breeze,  and  so  the  fibres  more  easily  strike  into  the  soil.  Each 
succeeding  breeze  contributes  to  its  security,  even  till  i  may 
sustain  the  force  of  the  tempest  without  being  rooted  up.  And 
in  a  similar  way  did  the  Lord  seem  to  temper  the  wind  of  per- 
secution to  the  strength  which  He  had  himself  conferred,  and 
to  cause  the  opposition  of  His  enemies  to  promote  the  strength 
of  those  who  trusted  in  Him." 

Dr.  Kalley  further  notices  evening  schools  for 
adults : — 

"  Of  these,"  he  says,  "  there  were  a  considerable  number  at 
different  times  and  places.  I  believe  that  about  2500  persons 
attended  them  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  between  1839  and 
1845,  and  that  upwards  of  1000  between  the  ages  of  fifteen 
and  thirty  learned  to  read  the  Scriptures  intelligently,  and  were 
thus  enabled  to  search  them  for  themselves." 

The  work  at.  length  provoked  the  open  hostility  of 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Their  first  step  was  to 
issue  a  Pastoral,  in  which  the  Bible  was  declared  to  be 
"  a  book  from  hell,"  and  the  terrors  of  excommunica- 
tion were  threatened  against  all  who  should  dare  to 
read  it.  Simultaneously  with  this  document,  another 
was  issued,  addressed  to  the  "  registrar"  of  each  par- 
ish, and  couched  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Sir, — On  the  receij^t  of  this  you  will  summon  to  your  pres- 
ence the  teachers,  male  and  female,  of  all  the  schools  estab- 
lished and  supported  by  Dr.  Kalley,  existing  in  your  parish, 
and,  in  the  presence  of  two  witnesses,  .'harge  them  henceforth 
not  to  teach  any  living  being.  If,  after  being  duly  notified, 
any  of  them  should  continue  to  teach,  you  can  immediately 
send  them  to  this  administration  in  charge  of  two  officers  of 


EXCOMMUNICATION.  165 

police.  You  will  cause  this  order  to  be  faithfully  executed,  and 
report  the  result  by  Monday  next,  giving  the  names  of  all  who 
have  been  notified,  &c.     God  save  you, 

"  J.  C.  Terreiha  Uzel,  Administrator T 

As  yet  only  two  converts  had  openly  renounced 
Romanism,  These  had  sat  down  at  the  Lord's  table 
in  communion  with  the  Presbj^terian  congregation  in 
Funchal.  The  following  sentence  of  excommunication 
was  therefore  pronounced  : — 

*'  Sebastio  Cazemiro  Medinna  Vasconcellas,  Leader  of  the  Choir 
in  the  Cathedral,  Synedic  Examinator,  Vicar-General  of 
the  Bishopric  of  Funchal,  in  the  Island  of  Madeira,  for  the 
Most  Excellent  and  Reverend  Don  Januaro  Vicente  Coma- 
cho  of  her  Majesty's  Council,  Dean  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Funchal,  Commander  of  the  Order  of  Christ,  Bishop  Elect 
of  Castle  Branco,  Temporal  Governor  and  Vicar-General 
of  the  Bishop  of  Funchal,  Porto  Santo,  and  Arguinot — 
"  To  all  the  reverend  vicars  and  curates,  assistants  and  chap- 
lains, as  well  as  to  all  judges  and  justices  of  the  peace,  to  the 
delegates  of  the  attorney-general,  to  the  administrators  of  coun- 
cils, and  all  officers  of  justice,  and  to  all  ecclesiastical  and  secu- 
lar persons  of  every  degree  and  condition  in  all  the  bishopiic 
and  out  of  it,  whom  this  my  letter  may  reach,  who  may  hear 
it,  or  get  notice  of  it  in  any  way,  health   and  peace  forever  in 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  is  the  true  I'emedy  and  salvation  of 
all.     I  make  known  to  you,  that,  having  proceeded  to  an  ex- 
amination of  witnesses,  as  competent  to  my  office,  it  was  proved 
by  them,  and  confirmed  by  my  sentence,  that  Francisco  Pires 
Scares,  married,  and  Nicolau  Tolentino  Vieyra,  bachelor,  both 
of  this  bishopric,  residing  in  the  parish  of  Santa  Luzia,  near  the 
parish  church,  apostatized  from  the  union  and  bosom  of  the 
Holy  Mother  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  became  sectaries  of 
the  Presbyterian  communion,  incurring  by  this  ecclpsiastiral 


156  MEMOIR   OF   KEV.    W.    H.    IIEWITSOW, 

censure  and  canonical  punishment  of  the  greater  excommunica- 
tion. The  censures  requiring  to  be  aggravated,  I  ordered  this 
present  letter  to  be  written,  by  which  I  require  and  coramandy 
under  pain  of  the  greater  excommunication,  all  ecclesiastics, 
ministers  and  officers  of  justice,  and  others  above  mentioned,  as 
soon  as  they  shall  have  notice  of  it,  not  to  touch,  or  hold  com- 
munication with  those  who  are  excommunicated  by  the  curse 
of  Almighty  God,  and  of  the  blessed  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
with  those  of  Gomorrah  and  of  Sodom,  Dathan  and  Abiram, 
whom  the  earth  swallowed  alive  for  their  great  sins  and  disobe- 
dience. Let  none  give  them  fire,  water,  bread,  or  any  other 
thing  that  may  be  necessary  to  them  for  their  support.  Let 
none  pay  them  their  debts.  Let  none  support  them  in  any 
case  which  they  may  bring  judicially.  Let  all  pat  them  aside 
as  rotten  and  excommunicated  members,  separated  from  the 
bosom  and  union  of  the  Holy  Mother  Catholic  Church,  and  as 
rebels  and  contumacious ;  for  if  any  do  the  contrary,  which  God 
forbid,  I  lay,  and  consider  as  laid,  upon  their  persons,  the  pen- 
alty of  the  greater  excommunication.  Therefore  were  their 
names  and  surnames  expressly  declared  ;  and,  that  all  may 
know  this,  I  order  the  reverend  parish  priests  to  publish  this  at 
the  meeting  on  the  first  Sabbath  or  holiday,  and  to  affix  it  on 
the  door  of  the  church,  from  which  let  no  man  take  or  tear  it 
under  pain  of  excommunication,  until,  by  making  satisfaction 
for  all,  they  merit  the  benefit  of  absolution. 

"  Given  in  Funchal,  under  the  seal  of  the  vicar-general 
and  my  signature,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1843.  Jacinta 
Monteiro  Cabrse,  writer  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Council, 
wrote  this. 

"  Sebastio  Cazemiro  Medinna  e  Vas." 

And  these  were  no  idle  threats.    The  civil  sword  lent 
its  willing  aid.     We  resume  Dr.  Kalley's  narrative : — 

"In  January,  1843,  the  civil  governor  commanded  me,  in 


NOTES   BY   DR.   KALLEY.  157 

the  Queen's  name,  to  abstain  from  speaking  to  Portuguese 
subjects  on  religious  tojiics,  either  in  my  house  or  out  of  it. 
But  as  the  command  was  arbitrary,  unsanctioned  by  law,  and 
in  direct  violation  of  the  charter  of  Portugal,  it  was  disregard- 
ed. After  that  he  issued  a  proclamation,  ordering  the  people 
to  desist  from  coming  to  liear  me ;  and  every  Sabbath  and 
holiday  the  police  were  stationed  in  the  roads  and  at  my  doors 
to  enforce  it.  Many  poor  persons  were  beaten,  and  others 
were  taken  to  jail,  for  disobedience.  One  wealthy  gentleman, 
indignant  at  the  priestly  attack  on  civil  liberty  through  the 
Government,  came  on  purpose  that  the  case  might  be  tried, 
and  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  subject  be  legally  declared. 
A  prosecution  was  commenced  against  him ;  but  the  proper 
legal  authorities  declared  that,  by  the  law  and  charter  of  Por- 
tugal, no  citizen  could  be  hindered  from  entering  any  house  if 
he  had  the  consent  of  the  owner.  Many,  therefore,  persevered 
in  attending,  but  came  early  to  avoid  the  police.  This  being 
known,  the  police  were  sent  earlier  (seven  a.  m.,  the  meeting 
being  at  nine  A.  Ji.),  but  a  goodly  number  had  arrived  before 
them.  They  were  sent  earlier  and  earlier,  till  at  last  they  were 
at  their  stations  at  four  a.  ir. :  but  still  they  were  too  late ;  for 
some  of  the  people  came  on  Saturday  night  to  the  worship, 
and  remained  to  enjoy  the  Sabbath  together. 

"  A  prosecution  having  been  instituted  against  me,  the  judge, 
after  examining  about  forty  witnesses,  found  that  my  proceed- 
ings did  not  violate  any  existing  law  of  Portugal,  and  therefore 
dismissed  the  case ;  but  he  having  left  the  island  for  a  time, 
another  individual,  who  had  no  jurisdiction  at  all  in  criminal 
cases,  was  allowed,  about  three  months  after,  to  reverse  the 
judge's  sentence,  and  issued  warrants  for  my  arrest.  I  was 
accordingly  imprisoned  in  July,  1843,  being  refused  bail  on  the 
plea  that  the  crimes  laid  to  my  charge  were  punishable  with 
death. 

"  The  friends  of  prisoners  in  Funchal  Jail  have  leave  to  see 
and  converse  with  them  for  six  or  eight  hours  daily  ;  but  the 


158  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

jailer  warned  many  not  to  visit  me,  and  took  down  the  names 
")f  some,  who  did  it  notwithstanding,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to 
.'heir  being  prosecuted.  Afterwards  they  were  allowed  to  enter 
by  threes;  but  this  intimation  was  officially  given,  and  the 
document  fixed  on  the  prison  door,  that  "  there  v.'as  to  be  no 
reading"  or  "  singing  of  the  Bible"  there.  The  jailer  acted  as 
spy,  and  declared  that  he  was  commanded  to  do  so,  and  to 
prevent  these  Bible  exercises,  or  inform  on  those  who  listened 
to  them.  The  judge  (British  judge  conservator)  also  came 
with  other  officials  and  searched  the  prisoners  and  prison  for 
Testaments.  He  found  one  or  two  and  took  them  away,  and 
they  were  never  restored  to  the  owners.  He  did  not  search 
my  rooms,  where  there  was  a  large  supply  of  Scriptures,  and 
the  colporteurs  continued  afterwards  to  come  in  to  me  for  fresh 
supplies,  which  they  took  away  and  sold  as  before.  On  Sab- 
baths, from  seventy  to  an  hundred  friends  used  to  visit  me, 
and  being  admitted  by  threes,  there  was  generally  a  number 
waiting  their  turn  about  the  door.  The  cathedral  is  near  the 
jail,  and  Romanists,  on  their  way  to  and  from  mass,  would 
sometimes  show  their  zeal  by  spitting  upon  the  heretics,  while 
these  showed  their  spirit  by  praying  for  those  who  thus  used 
them  despitefully. 

"  Having  done  what  they  could  to  stop  the  spread  of  the 
truth  by  verbal  communication,  the  next  step  of  the  Popish 
ecclesiastics  was  to  get  rid  of  the  Bible.  In  the  autumn  of 
that  year  (1843)  the  bishop-elect  issued  a  pastoral  letter,  which 
was  read  from  all  the  pulpits,  stating  that  a  committee  of  three 
canons  had  examined  the  Bibles  circulated  in  the  island,  and 
given  in  to  him  their  report,  in  which  they  declared,  that  while 
these  were  represented  to  be  an  edition  of  the  Bible,  as  trans- 
lated by  Padre  Antonio  Perreira,  there  was  scarcely  a  verse  of 
any  chapter  either  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  which  was 
not  more  or  less  notably  adulterated.  He  therefore  utterly 
condemned  the  reading  of  them,  and  excommunicated,  ipso 
facto,  all  continuing  to  use  them.     I  obtained  from  a  priest  the 


NOTES   BY   DR.   KALLEY.  159 

loan  of  a  copy  of  Perreira's  Bible,  published  in  Lisbon,  and 
got  a  friend  to  compare  the  Gospel  by  Matthew  in  it  with  that 
in  the  London  edition.  The  only  difference  found  was  the 
change  of  two  letters  by  mistake  of  the  printer, 

"  I  addressed,  therefore,  a  few  sentences  to  the  Madeirenses, 
stating  this  fact,  and  suggesting  that  the  bishop  should  suspend 
his  curse  from  the  Words  of  God,  till  it  might  be  decided 
whether  or  not  the  rest  of  the  Bible  was  as  correct  as  the 
Gospel  by  Matthew  bad  proved.  The  bishop's  letter  having 
been  published  and  affixed  to  the  church  door  and  public  places 
of  the  city,  these  remarks  upon  it  were  so  also.  The  canons 
replied  from  the  press,  reiterating  in  the  fullest  and  strongest 
terms  their  assertion,  that  there  was  scarcely  a  verse  of  any 
chapter  of  either  Testament  which  was  not  more  or  less  notably 
adulterated,  or  which  agreed  with  any  edition  of  Perreira's 
Bible.  To  this  they  attached  their  names  and  titles  as  digni- 
taries of  the  Church.  Meantime,  the  collation  of  the  two 
editions  was  carried  on,  and  when  about  5000  consecutive  verses 
had  been  compared,  a  few  more  sentences  were  published, 
stating,  that  in  all  these  there  had  been  found  only  seven  (of 
the  exact  number  I  cannot  speak  with  certainty — it  might  be 
only  five  ;  it  was  not  more  than  seven)  verses  at  all  changed. 
These  were  published  from  the  two  editions,  side  by  side,  so 
that  all  might  see  the  amount  of  change,  and  be  convinced 
that  it  did  not  alter  the  meaning.  The  Lisbon  and  the  London 
Bible  were  laid  together  on  a  table  in  the  jail — all  were  invited 
to  come  and  compare  them,  and  a  dollar  was  offered  to  any 
person  for  every  verse  (besides  the  seven)  which  he  might  find 
altered  in  the  four  Gospels,  or  in  the  Acts.  Many  compared 
the  volumes,  but  no  one  found  any  adulteration  or  claimed  a 
single  dollar  ;  and  by  the  gracious  providence  of  God  a  Lisbon 
newspaper  arrived  a  few  days  after  which  settled  the  discussion. 
It  contained  a  royal  mandate  [Portaria)  concerning  the  very 
same  edition  of  the  Bible  which  the  canons  condemned,  and 
stated  that  her  Majesty  the  Queen,  in  harmony  with  the  judg- 


160  MEMOIR  OF   KEV.    W.   H.   HEWITSOK 

ment  of  the  patriarch  archbishop-elect,  approved  of  it,  and 
recommended  that  it  should  be  circulated  in  Terceira  for  the 
moral  and  spiritual  benefit  of  her  subjects. 

"  I  was  released  from  prison  in  January,  1844,  and  resumed 
my  former  course,  as  the  only  competent  judge  who  had  yet 
given  a  sentence  respecting  it  had  declared  that  it  was  not  a 
violation  of  the  law  or  constitution  of  Portugal.  The  police 
were  again  employed  as  before ;  nevertheless,  the  average  at- 
tendance during  summer  in  Santo  Antonio  da  Serra  was  about 
six  hundred  on  Sabbaths,  and  thirty  on  other  evenings." 

That  summer  witnessed  a  scandal  too  well  known 
to  need  minute  rehearsing.  Mrs.  Maria  Joaquina 
Alves  had,  by  her  holy  walk  and  her  zeal  for  the  Lord 
in  her  neighborhood,  drawn  on  her  the  eye  of  the 
blood-thirsty  persecutor.  Snatched  from  the  bosom 
of  her  family  of  seven  children — one  of  them  still  an 
infant — she  had  been  committed  to  Funchal  Jail,  and 
been  detained  there  month  after  month,  in  the  hope 
that  her  bonds  might  compel  submission.  Her  faith 
had  stood  the  trying  test.  Not  only  had  she  not 
swerved  from  her  steadfastness,  but  she  had  often  been 
heard  praising  the  Lord  that  she  was  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  shame  for  His  sake.  Stung  to  the  quick,  her 
persecutors  had  resolved  that  she  should  die. 

On  2d  May,  1844,  after  an  imprisonment  of  sixteen 
months,  she  was  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  indictment  contained  three  counts — apos- 
tasy, heres}^,  and  blasphemy.  The  last  count  only 
was  pressed.  She  was  charged  with  refusing  to  ac- 
knowledge that  the   consecrated  host — that   is,  the 


A  CONVEET   CONDEMNED   TO   DEATH.  161 

morsel  of  bread  in  the  hands  of  the  priest — is  the  real 
body  and  real  blood,  and  the  human  soul,  and  the 
divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  with  refusing 
to  adore  it.  The  judge  put  the  question,  "  Do  you 
believe  the  consecrated  host  to  be  the  real  body  and 
real  blood  and  the  human  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?"  On  the  answer  she  should  give,  her  life, 
she  was  assured,  depended.  Shall  she  quail  in  this 
hour,  and  accept  the  mark  of  the  "  beast,"  or  shall  she 
be  "  faithful  unto  death  ?"  "  Out  of  weakness  made 
strong,"  she  calmly  and  firmly  replied — "  /  do  not  he- 
lieve  itJ^  Scarcely  had  she  witnessed  this  confession, 
when  the  judge  rose  and  pronounced  the  following 

SENTENCE   OF  DEATH: — 

"  In  view  of  the  answers  of  the  jury  and  the  discussions  of 
the  cause,  &c.,  it  is  proved  that  the  accused  Maria  Joaquina, 
perhaps  forgetful  of  the  principles  of  the  holy  religion  she  re- 
ceived in  her  first  years,  and  to  which  she  still  belongs,  has 
maintained  conversations  and  arguments  condemned  by  the 
Church  ;  maintaining  that  veneration  should  not  be  given  to 
images ;  denying  the  real  existence  of  Christ  in  the  sacred  host 
— the  mystery  of  the  most  holy  Trinity  ;  blaspheming  against 
the  most  holy  Virgin,  the  mother  of  God,  and  advancing  other 
expressions  against  the  doctrines  received  and  followed  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Apostolic  Church,  expounding  these  con- 
demned doctrines  to  different  persons ;  thus  committing  the 
crimes  of  heresy,  blasphemy,  &c.  I  condemn  the  accused, 
Maria  Joaquina,  to  suffer  death  as  provided  in  the  law ;  the 
costs  of  the  process,  &c.,  to  be  paid  out  of  her  goods. 

'■'■  Funchal  Oriental^  in  public  court,  May  2c?,  1844,"* 

*  This  sentence  was  commuted  by  the  Court  of  Relacao  at  Lisbon, 


162  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEAVITSON. 

Meanwhile,  no  effort  was  spared  bj  the  persecutors 
in  inflaming  the  pubhc  mind.     Dr.  Kalley  writes : — 

"  Assassination  was  suggested  in  the  public  papers  as  an 
easy  way  to  be  freed  from  annoyance  ;  the  free  use  of  the 
cudgel  was  recommended  as  an  argument  which  country  people 
could  feel  and  understand  ;  and  a  repetition  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's day  or  the  Sicilian  Vespers  was  not  obscurely  recom- 
mended, and  this  without  any  reprehension  from  those  in 
power,  so  far  as  I  ever  beard.  It  was,  therefore,  no  wonder 
that  atrocities  were  practised.  Some  were  most  cruelly  beaten 
— some  stoned — three  houses  were  burned  down — two  were 
set  on  fire  ;  and  all  complaints  against  such  treatment  seemed 
only  to  bring  aggravated  injury  upon  the  sufferers.  In  several 
instances,  families  were  refused  any  place  to  inter  their  dead 
except  the  public  highway.  The  stones  were  then  taken  up, 
and  the  body  brought  and  burned  under  the  inspection  of  tlie 
police." 

"  In  the  end  of  September  following,"  continues  Dr.  Kalley, 
"horrible  atrocities  were  committed  upon  a  portion  of  the 
parish  of  Antonio  da  Serra,  For  three  days  fifty  soldiers  were 
quartered  on  it,  and  allowed  to  plunder,  and  perpetrate  every 
cruelty,  as  if  in  the  land  of  a  vanquished  enemy.  Twenty- 
two  of  the  most  peaceful  and  well-behaved  men  and  women 
of  the  island  were  taken  to  Funchal  in  the  Diana  frigate,  and 
cast  into  prison  among  the  most  depraved  and  degraded.  No 
food  was  given  them  as  jail  allowance — the  provisions  in  their 
homes  had  been  consumed  or  destroyed  by  the  soldiers — and 
their  relations  were  in  hiding  to  escape  participation  in  their 
sufferings — consequently  they  were  without  food.  Friends, 
both  English  and  Portuguese,  knowing  this,  sent  food  for  them, 

on  5th  February,  1845,  in  consequence  of  a  technical  error  in  the  trial. 
Having  been  tried  only  for  blasphemy,  it  was  found  she  could  not  be 
competently  condemned  for  heresy  and  apostasy.  But  the  court  inti- 
mated, that,  had  she  been  tried  on  all  the  three  counts  in  the  indict- 
ment, the  sentence  of  death  must  have  been  executed. 


VOTES  BY   DR.    K ALLEY.  163 

and  it  was  refused  admission.  Still,  they  were  not  only  patient 
and  resigned  in  these  circumstances — they  were  happy.  They 
took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  knowing  that  they  had 
in  heaven  a  better  and  unfading  inheritance.  Their  love  to 
each  other,  their  happiness  and  firmness  in  what  they  beheved 
to  be  the  truth  of  God,  were  widely  known  ;  and,  though  an 
attempt  was  made  to  represent  them  as  criminals,  their  own 
countrymen  were  well  aware  that  their  real  oflfence  was  reading 
the  Word  of  God,  and  endeavoring  to  obey  it. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  their  imprisonment,  the  streets  around 
the  jail  often  resounded  with  their  hymns  of  praise  to  Him  who 
was  with  them  there ;  afterwards,  their  singing  was  declared 
to  be  a  violation  of  the  regulations  of  the  prison,  and  they 
were  silenced.  One  of  the  hymns  they  loved,  resembled  and 
was  sung  to  the  tune  of,  *  Oh,  that  will  be  joyful  !'  and  the 
sound  of  their  happy  voices  from  the  jail  could  not  be  endured 
by  the  enemies  of  the  Book  which  produced  such  results. 
Obscene  songs  were  not  prevented. 

"  During  their  imprisonment,  it  was  ordered  that  mass  should 
be  said,  and  that  all  the  prisoners  should  attend  it  every  Sab- 
bath and  holiday  ;  though,  while  there  were  none  imprisoned 
for  religion's  sake,  there  was  no  mass  then.  The  prisoners  from 
the  Serra,  and  others,  were  driven  to  it  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet  or  dragged  by  force,  and,  when  they  would  not  kneel, 
were  forced  down  to  the  floor.  When  down,  some  sat  still, 
according  to  custom,  on  the  floor ;  others  bolted  up  as  soon  as 
the  pressure  was  removed.  Several  of  them  were  put  into  the 
'  bomba,'  the  most  loathsome  and  putrid  of  the  filthy  rooms  of 
that  wretched  place,  and  that  merely  because  they  refused  to 
take  part  in  worship  which  they  believed  to  be  condemned  by 
God.  I  may  close  this  notice  of  these  prisoners  by  saying, 
that  after  upwards  of  twenty  months'  imprisonment,  they  were 
brought  to  trial  before  a  jury  of  their  countrymen,  and  fully 
acquitted,  but  refused  leave  to  return  to  their  plundered  and 
ruined  homes  till  they  should  pay  jail  fees. 


164  MEMOIR   OF  KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOX. 

"  One  of  the  Portuguese  ministers  having-  in  his  place  in 
the  Cortes  expressed  disapprobation  of  the  sentences  formerly- 
given  in  my  favor  (in  virtue  of  which  I  was  released  from 
prison),  and  the  judges  having  been  rendered  dependent  on  the 
Government,  a  sentence  was  obtained  from  one  of  the  courts 
in  Lisbon,  about  the  end  of  1844,  to  the  effect  that  I  ought  to 
be  prosecuted  for  having  stated,  in  meetings  of  Portuguese 
subjects,  doctrines  condemned  by  the  religion  of  the  State.  In 
such  circumstances  (the  Government  being  a  party  against  me, 
and  the  judges  under  its  direction),  there  was  little  doubt  that, 
if  the  law  proceedings  then  pending  were  pursued,  I  would  be 
expelled  from  the  island,  in  virtue  of  the  laws  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion (though  it  had  been  abolished),  but  in  violation  of  the  ex- 
isting law  of  Portugal,  and  of  the  treaties  with  Britain. 

"  I  was  desirous  to  avoid  this,  partly  to  avert  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  precedent  for  the  treatment  of  public  laborers, 
and  partly  because  I  beheved  I  would  still  benefit  the  believers 
without  exposing  myself  to  new  legal  proceedings.  I  might 
comfort  the  afflicted,  counsel  the  imprisoned,  aid  the  persecuted, 
attend  the  sick — tell  of  Jesus,  His  love.  His  life  and  death — 
the  love  of  the  Father,  in  sending  Him  to  seek  and  save  the 
lost,  and  the  love  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  teaching,  purifying,  and 
comforting  such  guilty  creatures — and  all  this  without  using 
expressions  condemned  by  the  religion  of  the  State.  Con- 
sidering it,  therefore,  of  importance  to  get  rid  of  the  prosecu- 
tion then  going  on,  I  immediately  sailed  for  Lisbon. 

"  Lord  Aberdeen,  then  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
claimed  damages  for  my  false  imprisonment.  The  Portuguese 
Government,  being  poor,  was  annoyed  by  the  claim  ;  and  when 
Lord  Howard  de  Walden,  the  British  ambassador  at  Lisbon, 
proposed  in  my  name  that  it  should  be  withdrawn,  on  condi- 
tion that  all  law  proceedings  against  me  for  any  acts  then  past 
should  be  dropped,  the  proposal  was  gladly  accepted  by  the 
Portuguese  ministers.  The  arrangement  being  completed  with 
Lord  Aberdeen's  approbation,  I  returned  to  Madeira ;  but,  not 


NOTES  BY  DR.   KALLEY.  165 

many  days  after  my  arrival,  a  warrant  was  issued  for  my  ap- 
prehension, in  consequence  of  the  afore-mentioned  sentence  of 
the  Lisbon  Court,  and  in  direct  violation  of  the  promises  made 
to  the  British  ambassador  by  the  Portuguese  Government.  I 
was  allowed  bail,  however ;  and,  for  aught  I  know  to  the  con- 
trary, my  name  is  still  on  the  list  of  criminals,  and  I  am  a  pris- 
oner on  bail." 

Dr.  Kallej  thencefortli  occupied  an  entirely  new 
position  in  relation  to  tlie  work  in  Madeira."  Having 
been  warned  by  tbe  British  Foreign  Secretary,  Lord 
Aberdeen,  that  lie  would  not  be  supported  by  the 
Home  Government  against  any  steps  which  the  Por- 
tuguese authorities  might  adopt  for  his  removal  from 
the  island,  if  he  permitted  Portuguese  subjects  to  as- 
semble in  his  house  for  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
he  felt  that  his  presence  in  Madeira  was  of  greater 
value  to  the  cause,  even  though  himself  comparatively 
silenced,  than  that,  by  continuing  the  meetings,  he 
should  incur  certain  banishment.  And  accordingly, 
whilst  not  renouncing  his  Christian  obligation — for 
how  could  he,  without  renouncing  his  Christianity  ? — 
to  speak  about  Christ  to  all  who  might  come  in  his 
way,  he  resigned  into  other  hands  the  privilege  of 
conducting  the  work  which  he  had  so  successfully  be- 
gun. 

"  I  met  Mr.  Hewitson,"  proceeds  Dr.  Kalley,  "  for  the  first 
time  at  Lisbon.  He  had,  without  my  knowledge,  been  ap- 
pointed in  Scotland  some  time  previous  to  labor  in  Madeira. 
He  accompanied  me  on  my  return  to  the  island,  and  entered 
with  much  zeal  and  love  upon  the  labor  for  which  God  had  so 

6* 


16(5  MEMOIR   OF  EEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

graciously  and  remarkably  fitted  him.  His  presence  was  most 
truly  providential.  May  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  send  forth 
many  such  laborers  into  His  harvest !" 

Sucli  is  tlie  share  borne  bj  this  Christian  physician 
in  the  Madeira  work.  His  labors  had  been  eminently 
blessed.  Twenty-six  rejoicing  "  prisoners  of  Jesus 
Christ"  in  the  dungeon  of  Funcbal,  and  one  not  less 
rejoicing  prisoner  under  sentence  of  deatli — these  were 
his  "  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all  men."  Nor  was 
this  all.  Other  disciples  there  were,  but  as  yet  "secret- 
ly for  fear  of  the  Jews."  There  was  abroad,  more- 
over, among  the  people,  a  spirit  of  anxious  inquiry,  a 
hungering  for  the  bread  of  life,  which  told  undeniably 
bow  largely  the  Lord  had  been  working  by  him. 
Another  agent  now  was  to  take  his  place.  No  one 
rejoiced  more  cordially  than  Dr.  Kalley  that  such  an 
agent  bad  been  provided.  On  March  27,  1845,  in  ex- 
plaining to  the  Colonial  Committee  his  altered  posi- 
tion since  he  returned  to  the  island,  we  find  him 
writing :  "  Were  there  no  one  to  enter  on  my  labors, 
I  should  feel  very  much  embarrassed;  but  I  thank 
God  we  have  here  a  better  hand  for  polishing  the 
stones  than  I  could  prove," 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1845. 

Arrival  in  Madeira — Meetings  -with  Inquirers — Preaching  in  Portu- 
guese— Baptisms — Position  of  Dr.  Kalley — Progress  of  the  "Work 
— Zeal  of  the  Converts :  their  Sufferings,  Faith,  Patience — Com- 
munions—Opposition of  the  Priests — Threatened  Indictment — Pre- 
cautions— Imprisonments  for  Reading  the  Bible — Exterminating 
"Warfare  against  the  "Word — Source  of  Converts'  Joy— Portuguese 
Imprisoned  for  Teaching  to  Read— Growing  Thirst  for  the  Gospel 
— New  Attempts  to  arrest  the  "Work — Obey  God  rather  than  Men 
— Communion  under  Cover  of  Night. 

"  Mr.  He"WITson's  arrival  in  Madeira,"  writes  the 
Eev.  J.  Julius  "Wood,*  who  at  the  time  was  resident 
there,  "  was  exceedingly  opportune,  and  a  striking  in- 
terpositioD  of  Providence  on  behalf  of  the  work  that 
was  then  going  on  among  the  Portuguese  through  the 
instrumentality  of  Dr.  Kalley.  Under  the  pressure 
of  a  variety  of  circumstances.  Dr.  Kalley  had  just  been 
compelled  to  give  up  the  meetings  and  expositions  in 
his  own  house,  which  were  attended  by  large  numbers 
of  the  Portuguese.  Not  many  had  at  that  time  actu- 
ally renounced  Popery — I  believe  only  between  twenty 
and  thirty ;  but  a  large  number  were  impressed,  were 
*  Letter  to  Author.     December  1,  1850. 


168  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W.    H.   IlEWITSOiSr. 

inquiring,  were  reading  the  Scriptures,  had  given  up 
Confession,  and  were  evidently  in  a  transition  state. 
"When  Dr.  Kalley  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  meet- 
ings, these  found  themselves  as  sheep  without  a  shep- 
herd. 

"  Mr.  Hewitson  did  not  feel  himself  under  any  ob- 
ligation to  regard  the  restrictions  that  had  been  laid 
on  Dr.  Kalley.  His  Master  had  said,  '  Preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.  Be  instant  in  season  and 
out  of  season.'  There  was  evidently  no  law  of  man 
to  forbid  his  doing  this  in  Madeira.  The  spirit  of 
Popery,  indeed,  was  in  deadly  opposition  to  any 
obedience  to  his  Master's  great  command;  and  the  au- 
thorities, roused  and  urged  on  by  Popery,  were  will- 
ing to  trample  on  all  law,  in  order  to  keep  out  the 
light,  and  protect  the  reigning  superstition  and  dark- 
ness. But,  braving  all  difficulties  and  dangers,  Mr. 
Hewitson  proceeded  to  put  himself  in  communication 
with  those  who  had  been  deprived  of  the  privilege  of 
Dr.  Kalley's  meetings. 

"At  this  time  he  came  to  live  with  me,  and  a  room 
in  my  house  was  set  apart  for  his  expositions." 

Mr.  Hewitson  now  began  to  receive  daily  a  small 
number  of  the  converts  and  inquirers.  Many  would 
have  assembled,  but  pruder>ee  dictated  the  necessity 
of  limited  meetings.  His  earliest  record  of  the  work 
is  the  following : — 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Funchal,  Madeira,  March 
11,  1845. — Since  I  came,  I  have  met  and  spoken  with  a  con- 


MEETINGS   WITH   INQUIRERS.  169 

siderable  number  of  the  converts — many  of  them  very  inter- 
esting persons,  and  resting,  to  all  appearance,  with  great  sim- 
plicity and  child-hkeness  of  faith,  on  Jesus.  Some  of  them 
seem  to  enjoy  unbroken  peace,  and,  expecting  to  suffer  in  the 
flesh  for  the  name  of  Christ,  have  sat  down  and  counted  the 
cost.  One  of  them,  whose  heart  overflows  with  love  to  Christ, 
said,  when  I  first  saw  her,  that  she  would  rather  let  them  put 
her  to  death  than  hear  them  malign  the  truth  without  defend- 
ing it.  I  have  begun  to  have  meetings  of  the  people  in  the 
mornings.  They  come  in  small  numbers  to  me.  I  endeavor 
to  speak  with  them,  read  Scripture,  expound  it,  and  pray  in 
Portuguese.  The  difficulty  with  me  in  speaking  the  language 
is  not  so  great  as  that  of  understanding  it  when  spoken  by 
others.  The  good  people,  when  I  request  them  to  speak  more 
at  leisure,  in  their  desire  to  make  themselves  intelligible,  speak 
all  the  faster.    In  this  thing  I  have  need  of  patience. 

"  Many  have  applied  for  admission  to  the  Lord's  table,  and 
their  answers  to  the  questions  put  to  them  have  evinced  con- 
siderable intimacy  with  Bible  truth,  and  clearness  of  apprehen- 
sion as  to  the  true  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

"  Last  Sabbath  I  baptized  two  children.  The  parents,  both 
fathers  and  mothers,  had  come  in  from  St.  Antonio  da  Serra, 
which  is  four  hours  distant,  on  the  preceding  evening.  The 
ordinance  was,  of  course,  administered  in  true  Presbyterian 
form  ;  and,  after  making  the  pre-baptismal  address  and  charge 
to  the  parents,  one  of  them,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  declared 
his  desire  to  be  himself  the  Lord's,  and  to  have  his  child 
brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God.  The  occasion  was  a  memora- 
ble one.  It  is  the  first  dispensation  of  baptism  to  the  children 
of  Portuguese  converts  which  had  taken  place  in  Madeira. 
After  the  parents  had  gone  away,  they  said  that  they  did  not 
look  upon  any  of  their  children  as  rightly  baptized  except  these 
ones.  The  service  took  place  in  Miss  Denniston's  house  (I  mean, 
Dr.  Cunningham's  sister-in-law) :  it  was  necessary  to  observe 
8 


170  MEMOIK   OF    REV.    W.    H.    HEWITSON, 

the  greatest  secrecy,  and  the  end  of  secrecy  could  scarcely  have 
been  better  served  than  in  Miss  Denniston's  house. 

"  Another  parent  has  made  application  for  baptism  on  be- 
half of  his  infant  child.  He  comes  from  another  part  of  the 
island.  He  is  a  very  intelligent  man,  an  Apollos  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  has,  on  more  than  one  point  of  divinity,  puzzled  and 
discomfited  the  parish  priest.  Mrs.  Kalley  once  expressed  to 
him  her  surprise  at  his  having,  within  so  short  a  time,  attained 
such  knowledge  of  divine  things.  He,  in  turn,  appeared  to  be 
surprised  at  her  making  such  a  remark,  and  said,  '  God  could 
teach  me  more  in  five  minutes.'  He  was  once  '  a  prisoner  of 
Jesus  Christ.'  If  the  Lord  permit  and  enable  me  to  engage 
in  the  solemn  service,  it  is  probable  that  we  may  have  the  com- 
munion on  Sabbath  after  next.  It  will  be  in  the  evening,  '  the 
doors  being  shut,  for  fear  of  the  Jews.' 

"  Mr.  Wood  dispensed  the  Lord's  Supper  to  his.  flock  since  I 
came  to  Madeira.  It  was  to  me  a  season  of  blessed  com- 
munion. The  Lord  was  with  me  at  His  table,  and  gave  me 
some  of  the  '  hidden  manna.' " 

Not  the  least  remarkable  element  in  God's  prepara- 
tion of  His  servant,  was  tlie  extraordinary  power  he 
had  so  rapidly  acquired  of  speaking  to  these  people  in 
their  own  tongue  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  The 
reader  may  perhaps  remember  how  serious  an  obstacle 
to  success  his  inability  to  speak  the  language  of  the 
Indians  had,  in  the  early  stage,  proved  to  David 
Brainerd,  and  how,  as  his  words  passed  through  the 
untouched  heart  of  the  interpreter,  they  had  so  sadly 
lost  their  edge ;  and  he  may  remember  the  holy  man's 
joy,  when,  by  the  quickening  of  that  heart,  the  Lord 
began  to  smile  upon  his  work.  From  tho  outset,  Mr. 
Hewitson  was  his  own  interpreter.     On  March  24, 


PREACHING   IN   PORTUGUESE.  171 

1845,  we  find  Mr.  Wood  thus  writing  to  the  Colonial 
Committee : — 

"  He  is  fully  employed  with  the  Portuguese  already;  he  is 
able  not  only  to  speak  to  tbera,  but  also  to  expound  and  ad- 
dress them.  He  is  admirably  suited  for  the  work  in  which  he 
is  engaged.  The  thirst  of  the  poor  people  for  the  Word  is  ex- 
traordinary and  intense." 

And  another  correspondent,  also  then  resident  in 
the  island,  writes : — 

"  His  fluency  in  the  language  from  the  time  of  his  arrival, 
though  be  had  only  studied  it  for  two  months  in  Lisbon,  was 
wonderful ;  the  people  spoke  of  it  as  being  '  a  gift  from  God.' 
You  know  the  unction  that  pervaded  all  he  ever  said  and  did, 
and  how  he  spoke  and  how  he  prayed  in  his  own  tongue ;  but 
you  can  hardly  imagine  how  he  suited  himself  to  the  peculiar 
habits  of  thinking  and  circumstances  of  these  uneducated  but 
intelligent  and  inquiring  people.  I  have  heard  many  of  them 
go  over  his  addresses,  or  his  particular  illustrations,  with  a  de- 
light and  depth  of  feehng  which  showed  he  had  reached  the 
heart  1" 

No  "  cloven  tongii^e,  like  as  of  fire,"  had  "  sat" 
upon  him.  But  He  who  gave  to  Peter  and  to  John, 
in  an  instant,  the  gift  of  tongues,  had  selected  for  Ma- 
deira one  who,  by  his  previous  acquirements  and 
habits  of  severe  study,  was  able  to  grapple  with  and 
overcome  an  initial  difficulty,  by  which  most  other 
men  would  have  been  arrested  until  the  door  had  been 
shut.  As  in  the  selfseeking  but  lettered  student, 
sitting  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  we  behold  him  who 
afterwards,  on  Mars  Hill,  in  presence  of  "certain  phi- 


172  MEMOIR  CF  EEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOX. 

losopliers  of  tlie  Epicureans  and  of  the  Stoics,"  preach- 
ed "Jesus  and  the  resurrection;"  so  in  the  accom- 
plished and  disciplined,  though  still  ungodly,  scholar 
of  1835,  we  trace  the  missionary  who,  ten  years  after- 
wards, was,  by  his  so  singularly  rapid  equipment  in 
the  language  of  the  inquiring  islanders,  to  be  fitted  to 
meet  an  emergency  so  precious  and  so  brief.  Without 
supposing  any  miracle,  they  might  well  receive  him 
as  "a  gift  from  God." 

The  progress  of  the  work  is  indicated  in  three  notes, 
written  a  fortnight  later.  The  opening  parapraph  re- 
fers to  the  cause  of  Dr.  Kalley's  withdrawal  from  any 
farther  public  share  in  it.  It  reflects  no  honor  on  the 
British  statesman  named  in  the  extract,  that  his  policy 
should  have  rendered  such  a  course  indisjoensable. 

"To  THE  Convener  of  Colonial  Committee  of  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  Rev.  John  Sym. — Funchal,  Madeira, 
March  25,  1845. — Yesterday  the  English  packet  arrived  here, 
bringing  the  intelligence  that  Lord  Aberdeen  had  written  to 
Dr.  Kalley.  The  letter  of  his  lordship  has  not  yet  come  to 
Dr.  Kalley's  hands,  though  there  has  been  an  opportunity  of 
its  being  forwarded  to  him  from  Lisbon.  Its  contents  are  what 
T  expected  they  would  be ;  and  I  am  all  the  more  convinced, 
by  the  perusal  of  it,  that  Dr.  Kalley  acted  wisely  in  proposing, 
through  Lord  Howard  de  Walden,  such  an  arrangement  as 
would  secure  his  being  permitted  to  remain  on  the  island.  It 
is  of  incalculable  importance  that  he  be  allowed  to  remain, 
though  without  the  privilege  of  preaching  as  formerly  to  large 
congregations.  Being  on  the  spot,  he  has  opportunities  of 
promoting  the  good  cause  which  its  friends  in  Britain  are  not 
aware  of;  and  it  was  with  a  view  to  the  glory  of  God  and 


PROGEESS  OF  THE  WORK.  173 

the  good  of  souls — not  by  any  means  for  the  purpose  of  avoid- 
ing danger — that  he  made  his  proposal  to  the  Portuguese 
Government. 

"  There  is,  I  am  more  and  more  convinced,  '  a  wide  door  and 
effectual'  opened  in  Madeira  ;  and  though  there  are  many  ad- 
versaries. He  who  has  opened  the  door  is  stronger  than  all,  and 
*  no  man  can  shut  it.'  The  Lord  himself  will,  I  expect,  shut  it 
ere  long.  Now  is  the  time  to  work.  I  believe  that  the  good 
seed  has  been  rapidly  multiplied.  Last  Sabbath  evening  I  ad- 
ministered the  Lord's  Supper  to  thirty-four  Portuguese  converts. 
More  might  have  been  admitted,  but  there  was  not  room  for 
them.  It  was  a  blessed  season.  The  greatest  secrecy  was  ob- 
served. In  health,  I  am  as  well  as  when  I  left  Scotland.  Two 
or  three  weeks  ago  had  hemorrhage,  but  slight." 

"To  THE  Eev.  J.  DoDDS. — Funchol,  Madeira,  March  25, 
1845. — There  is  good  ground  for  beheving  that  the  good  work 
is  going  forward.  Not  a  few,  in  different  parts  of  the  island, 
are  being  taught  to  read  the  Scriptures ;  and  those  who  are  al- 
ready converted  are  not  slack  in  profiting  by  the  opportunities 
they  have  of  encouraging  one  another,  and  of  doing  good  to 
the  souls  which  are  still  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death. 
Many  of  the  converts  have,  through  reading  and  prayer,  be- 
come intelligent  and  enlightened  members  of  society — able  to 
give  to  all  that  ask  them  a  clear  and  distinct  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  them.  The  apprehension  which  they  have  generally 
of  the  way  of  salvation  is  extremely  simple,  and  their  confi- 
dence in  Christ  very  childlike.  Some  of  them  seem  to  be  alto- 
gether free  from  doubts  and  fears,  and  to  be  filled  with  joy  and 
peace  in  believing. 

"  Great  secrecy  needs  to  be  observed  here  ;  and  even  at 
home,  to  give  wide  publicity  to  such  an  event  as  the  one  men- 
tioned (the  baptism),  might  by  possibility  be  a  means  of 
making  it  known  to  the  enemies  of  the  good  cause  in  this 
island.  There  are  Britons  here  who  correspond  with  the  Eng- 
lish newspapers,  and  are  opposed  to  the  progress  of  schism. 


174  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

"  Remember  me  and  Madeira.  The  door  is  standing  open, 
tliougli  there  are  many  enemies.  What  will  be  the  end  is  one 
of  the  uncertainties  of  the  future ;  but  '  bonds  and  imprison- 
ments,' perhaps,  await  many.  Oh  to  be  strong  on  the  Lord's 
side,  and  in  the  Lord's  grace !" 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — March  25, 1845. — ^My  time 
is  not  to-day  at  my  disposal,  and  I  am  told  that  the  vessel  is  to 
sail  this  afternoon One  day  last  week  in  course  of  ex- 
pounding Scripture,  I  said  that  those  who  had  found  the  '  hid 
treasure'  were  willing  to  part  with  all  for  its  sake ;  and  then 
asked  a  man  if  he  understood  my  meaning.  He  came  forward 
with  the  manner  of  one  who  was  bruised  and  suflfering  pain, 
and  said  that  lie  did  understand  it,  and  that  he  had  been 
severely  beaten  on  the  evening  before  for  Christ's  sake.  The 
man  referred  to  often  sleeps,  I  believe,  on  a  stair  all  night,  that 
he  may  not  be  exposed  so  much  to  the  violence  of  the  adver- 
sary. He  is  truly  a  happy  man.  He  has  found  '  the  hid  treas- 
ure.' A  woman  said,  in  reference  to  Sabbath  evening  last,  '  I 
should  have  liked  if  it  had  lasted  forever.'  Another,  expecting 
to  suffer,  says,  '  I  am  weak  in  the  flesh,  but  strong  in  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord.' " 

The  enemy  became  alarmed.  "  It  was  soon  found," 
continues  Mr.  Wood,  "  that  the  meetings  were  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  the  priest  and  the  authorities,  and 
they  were  given  up.  But  Mr.  Hewitson  still  continued 
to  carry  on  the  work.  The  people  were  invited  to 
wait  upon  him  individually,  or  two  or  three  at  a  time 
— an  invitation  to  which  they  most  gladly  responded. 
Indeed,  the  hungering  and  thirsting  of  these  poor 
people  after  instruction  in  the  Scriptures  was  remark- 
able and  affecting.  Often  would  they  stop  me,  and 
inquire  when  it  would  be  their  turn  to  come  to  the 


PROGRESS   OF  THE  WORK.  175 

minister.  And  I  was  sometimes  not  a  little  provoked 
by  their  want  of  caution  and  prudence  wlien  I  saw  a 
number  of  tbem,  as  was  often  the  case,  plant  them- 
selves right  opposite  my  door,  patiently  waiting  their 
turn  for  being  admitted  to  Mr.  Hewitson. 

"  This  mode  of  carrying  on  the  work  was  exceed- 
ingly laborious  and  fatiguing.  '  Mr.  Hewitson  was 
usually  engaged  with  different  parties  of  individuals, 
from  a  little  before  ten  till  about  one  o'clock,  and 
sometimes  later.  To  add  to  the  labor,  he  was  convers- 
ing all  that  time  in  a  foreign  language  but  recently 
acquired,  and  with  the  idiomatic  phraseology  of  which 
he  was  as  yet  imperfectly  acquainted.  Nothing,  in 
my  experience,  is  more  wearing  out  than  conversation 
for  a  lengthened  period,  on  the  same  or  similar  sub- 
jects, with  successive  individuals  or  groups.  Yet, 
weak  in  body  as  Mr.  Hewitson  was,  he  never  shrank 
from  this  labor.  All  his  regret  was,  that  he  had  not 
more  strength  for  the  great  and  deeply  interesting- 
work  that  called  him.  Sometimes  he  was  very  much 
exhausted,  as  day  after  day  he  toiled  in  instructing  the 
numbers  who  eagerly  resorted  to  him.  But  it  was 
wonderful  to  see  that  his  health  did  not  suffer.  La- 
bor that  might  have  prostrated  a  man  in  robust  health 
— ^though  it  often  wearied  his  feeble  frame — did  not 
seem  seriously  to  injure  him.  Those  who  waited  on 
his  instructions  grew  rapidly  in  knowledge  and  in 
grace." 

Of  these  pleasant  labors,  not  the  least  exhausting 


176  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

was  his  preparatory  dealing  with  applicants  for  ad- 
mission to  the  table  of  the  Lord.  As  each  new  soul 
was  touched  by  Divine  grace,  the  individual  came  de- 
siring the  privilege  of  sitting  down  with  the  little 
flock  at  the  Supper.  It  was  affecting  to  see  one  after 
another,  though  at  the  peril  of  imprisonment  or  even 
death,  thus  boldly,  yet  meekly,  confessing  Christ. 
After  a  course  of  instruction,  Mr.  Hewitson  received 
them  one  by  one  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Church. 
The  communions  were  seasons  of  peculiar  refreshing. 
The  two  first  are  thus  briefly  noted  by  one  who  was 
privileged  to  be  present : — 

"  His  first  communion  was  on  the  23d  of  March,  when  forty 
Portuguese  converts  were  present,  of  whom,  I  think,  about 
eighteen  only  had  been  previously  received  as  communicants  by 
Dr.  Kalley.  On  the  20th  of  April  he  again  administered  the 
communion,  at  which  I  was  present,  and  three  or  four  other 
Scotch  friends.  It  was  a  very  solemn  service,  after  sunset,  on 
the  Sabbath  evening.  Thirty  new  communicants  were  admit- 
ted, and  sixty-one  were  present. 

"  Many  were  deeply  affected.  Mr.  Hewitson  spoke  on  the 
'  prodigal  son.'  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  him  preach 
in  Portuguese,  and  I  was  indeed  amazed  with  his  fluency,  his 
command  of  the  language,  and  the  correctness  of  his  pronunci- 
ation." 

In  another  letter,  Mr.  Hewitson  describes  the  grow- 
ing danger,  and  the  people's  growing  steadfastness. 
He  also  adverts  to  a  new  measure  of  precaution  adopt- 
ed to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  persecutor : — 

"  To  HIS  Sister. — Funchal,  Madeira,  Mxy  1,  1845. —  .  .  . 


PERSECUTION.  177 

It  Las  never  been  my  expectation  that  the  enemies  of  the  truth 
would  long  suflfer  the  good  work  to  continue,  and  it  will  not 
surprise  me  though  it  be  soon  stopped.  The  Roman  Catholic 
priest  of  the  parish  in  which  I  have  recently  been  holding  my 
meetings  has  come  to  know  about  them,  and  he  will  not  cease 
making  endeavors  till  they  be  put  down. 

"  How  pleasant  it  has  been  to  meet  with,  and  speak  to  the 
dear  people  here  who  love  Jesus  !  Many  of  them  are  simple- 
minded,  and  confiding  in  God  like  Httle  children.  Some  of 
them  have  made  much  progress  in  grace  and  holiness,  and 
their  greatest  joy  is  to  see  the  work  spreading,  and  new  souls 
coming  into  the  fold.  The  Lord  is  carrying  His  gracious  work 
forward,  especially  in  private,  through  the  reading  of  Scripture. 

"  The  work  was  perhaps  never  in  a  more  flourishing  state 
than  it  is  at  this  moment.  But  the  enemy  is  determined,  I 
believe,  to  use  all  means  to  stop  it.  It  is  the  Lord's  own  work, 
however,  and  He  will  sustain  it  till  the  gathering  in  of  all  His 
elect  has  been  completed.  The  poor  people  who  know  and 
love  the  truth  have  nothing  before  them  but  the  prospect  of 
suffering  for  Christ's  sake.  Meanwhile  they  wait  on  the  Lord, 
daily  praying  and  praising  God.  In  this  way  they  are  becom- 
ing, I  trust,  strong  in  the  Lord  against  the  day  of  trial. 

"  I  found  that  Mr.  Wood's  house  was  too  public  to  continue 
the  meetings  in,  and,  following  the  advice  of  friends  here,  I 
have  been  led  to  take  the  lease  of  a  house  for  a  year — one  in  a 
more  retired  situation,  having  a  little  garden  on  one  side  c^  it, 
and  a  large  garden,  or  fiizenda,  as  it  is  here  called,  on  the  other. 
I  have  not  yet  begun  to  live  in  it,  but  have  had  my  meetings 
in  it  with  the  people  for  about  two  weeks. 

The  rage  of  the  adversary  was  daily  increasing.  The 
narrative  thus  proceeds  : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Madeira,  May  2,  1845. — 
....  When  I  looked  forward  to  Madeira  as  a  place  of  dan- 
ger, I  was  not  altogether,  as  events  are  beginning  to  show, 


178  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

without  reasonable  grounds  for  my  apprehensions.  There  has 
been  another  communion — fifty-nine  or  sixty  Portuguese  con- 
verts being  present.  No  suspicion,  I  beheve,  exists  as  to  our 
having  had  such  a  meeting.  There  are  many  applying,  be- 
sides, for  admission  to  the  Lord's  table.  The  work  is  going 
forward.  No  man  can  stay  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  Work- 
man. There  are  many  dear  children  of  God  in  this  place, 
whose  sincerity  is  put  to  the  test  by  many  adversaries.  They 
suffer  much  in  private  in  their  own  homes  and  neighborhood  ; 
and  though  naturally,  I  believe,  an  extremely  timid  people, 
they  are  bold  in  their  God,  and  strong  in  the  joy  of  their  Lord. 
One  of  the  children  which  I  baptized  is  dead,  and  has  been 
buried,  not  in  the  parish  church-yard,  but  in  what  the  Roman 
Catholics  call  unconsecrated  ground. 

"  It  is  a  few  houi-s  since  I  wrote  the  above,  and  I  am  since 
all  the  more  convinced  that  decided  steps  will  be  taken  to  ar- 
rest, so  far  as  the  enemy  can  arrest,  the  progress  of  the  work 
here.  *  The  Lord  reigneth.'  Pray  that  my  faith  may  not  fail, 
and  that,  amidst  the  siftings  of  coming  trial,  the  dear  people 
may  be  enabled  to  abide  in  the  Lord.  Weak  am  I  in  myself, 
and  naturally  disposed  to  shrink  ;  but  it  is  my  prayer  that,  in 
the  everlasting  arms  of  my  faithful  covenant  God,  I  may  be 
borne  safely  through.  God  be  glorified  in  me,  spirit,  soul,  and 
body !  We  are  but  pilgrims  here  :  we  are  travellers  to  our 
Father's  house.  Oh  that  our  chief  desire  may  be  to  glorify 
God  our  Saviour  now,  that  we  may  be  glorified  in  Him,  and 
with  Him,  at  His  coming  !" 

"  To  HIS  Sister. — Madeira,  May  2,  eleven  o'clock,  p.m. — I 
fear  that  my  meetings  here  will  soon  be  stopped  now.  Yes- 
terday several  pohcemen  were  on  watch  round  the  house  in 
which  we  met,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  who  the  persons 
were  that  had  assembled  for  worship.  Seeing  them  on  the 
spot  when  I  rode  up,  I  did  not  go  in,  but  went  past.  After 
they  had  watched  for  two  hours  or  so,  they  went  off,  and  the 
few  people  who  were  in  the  house  then  went  away  home.   The 


PEKSECUTION.  179 

policemen  were  again  watching  to-day,  and  I  rode  past  them. 
They  will  perhaps  continue  to  watch  for  some  days  to  come ; 
but  they  will  be  disappointed,  for,  while  they  keep  watching,  I 
will,  of  course,  as  an  act  of  prudence,  discontinue  my  meetings. 
....  I  am  afraid  lest  the  disciples  here  may  have  to  sutler 
still  more  than  they  have  suffered  in  the  cause  of  their  Lord. 

"  Yesterday  Dr.  Kalley  again  examined  my  lungs  ;  and  this 
time,  notwithstanding  all  the  work  that  I  have  had,  his  report 
is  somewhat  more  favorable.  The  disease  seems  not  at  all  to 
be  active."  '■ 

*'  To  THE  Convener  of  the  Colonial  Committee. — Ma- 
deira, May  8, 1845. — The  adversaries  of  the  truth  came  to  dis- 
cover my  meetings  in  consequence  of  a  little  act  of  indiscretion 
which  one  of  the  converts  was  betrayed  into  in  private  in  a  mo- 
ment of  unguarded  zeal.  It  was  owing  to  a  representation 
from  the  Bishop  of  Madeira  that  the  police  were  stationed  at 
the  house  in  which  I  had  latterly  been  engaged  in  worshipping 
with  the  people. 

"  On  Saturday  last  several  persons  were  examined  by  the 
administrator  of  police,  but,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  the  informa- 
tion communicated  by  them  was  not  sufficient  to  afford  ground 
for  bringing  an  indictment  against  me.  The  police  continued 
to  watch  daily  till  Sabbath  ;  and  though  now  they  do  not  per- 
sonally continue  their  vigilance,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
they  are  taking  means  to  secure  information  as  to  my  proceed- 
ings, being  resolved,  it  is  said,  to  put  me  down. 

"  Of  course  I  have  discontinued  for  a  time  my  meetings  in 
the  house  to  which  the  eye  of  watchfulness  is  especially  direct- 
ed, nor  do  I  think  it  will  be  possible  to  meet  there  with  even 
the  smallest  number  of  worshippers  until  I  go  to  reside  in  if. 
Meanwhile  I  meet  with  a  very  limited  number  of  persons  daily 
in  Mr.  "Wood's  house,  and  there  is  another  house  at  some  dis- 
tance which  the  ladies  who  occupy  it  have  kindly  placed  at  my 
disposal.  In  it  I  may  probably  have  a  weekly  meeting  with  a 
few  of  the  converts  who  live  in  the  neighborhood. 


180  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

"  The  people  with  whom  1  have  been  in  the  practice  of  meet- 
ing, so  far  from  being  terrified  by  the  threatening  demonstra- 
tions of  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  would  continue  to  visit  me  as 
usual  if  I  did  not  consult  for  their  safety  more  than  they  do 
themselves.  Their  nnmbers  are  so  considerable,  that  I  have 
been  all  along  obliged  to  restrain  them  from  coming  except  at 
reasonable  intervals  ;  and  their  love  of  the  truth,  like  that 
which  discovers  itself  at  home  during  seasons  of  revival,  is  such 
.IS  leads  them  to  make  little  account  of  the  obstacles  which  rise 
up  in  its  way. 

"  Already  I  have  baptized  three  children,  and  there  is  an- 
other which  I  intend  to  baptize,  if  the  Lord  permit,  ere  long. 
The  parents  of  the  latter  are  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  not  de- 
terred by  the  threatening  aspect  of  things  from  seeking  baptism 
for  their  child. 

"  For  some  weeks  past  I  have  been  contemplating  the  ordi- 
nation of  three  or  four  elders.  On  Tuesday  last  I  intimated  to 
a  godly  young  man  that  I  wished  him  to  become  an  elder,  ask- 
ing him  if  he  would  object  to  undertake  the  office.  He  an- 
swered that  he  would  refuse  to  do  nothing  that  was  agreeable 
to  the  will  of  the  Lord,  and,  evidently  referring  to  a  threatened 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  enemies  of  the  truth  to  force  him 
into  military  service,  he  added,  that  he  would  gladly  enlist  him- 
self as  a  soldier  to  defend  the  Lord's  cause  and  people.  The 
young  man  in  question  is  a  devoted  servant  of  God,  with  in- 
tense love  of  Bible  truth.  He  knows  much  of  that  truth,  and 
quotes  Scripture  with  great  readiness  and  felicity.  He  has  a 
strong  understanding,  an  excellent  memory,  and  fluent  utter- 
ance. He  Ls  very  anxious  to  acquire  the  English  language, 
as  it  affords  such  advantages  for  increasing  knowledge  in  divine 
things. 

"  Do  not  you  and  the  Colonial  Committee  think  that,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  exigencies  of  the  native  church  in  Madeira, 
and  in  accordance  with  apostohc  practice  in  cases  of  similar 
exigency,  tlie  young  man  referred  to  ought,  after  acquiring  the 


NEW   IMPRISONMENTS,  181 

key  which  the  English  language  would  give  him  to  swch  stores 
of  scriptural  knowledge,  to  be  set  apart  to  the  office  of  the 
holy  ministry  ?  For  my  own  part,  I  have  no  difficulty  in 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  he  ought.  The  time  may  not 
be  far  distant  when  I  shall  be  obliged  to  leave  Maderia  by  the 
strong  arm  of  persecution ;  and  it  would  be  a  great  comfort  to 
the  afflicted  church  here,  amidst  their  privations,  to  have  the 
prospect  of  so  soon  receiving  ordinances  at  the  hands  of  one 
of  their  own  number. 

"  I  am  still  permitted  by  God  to  cherish  the  hope  that,  by 
going  on  quietly,  and  so  as  best  to  elude  the  eye  of  hostile 
observation,  I  shall  be  enabled  to  labor  a  little  longer  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry  among  this  people.  There  is  much  to 
do  in  the  way  of  building  up,  as  well  as  in  the  way  of  ingath- 
ering. I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  latter  part  of  the 
work  is  going  forward." 

"  P.  S. — MaT/  10. — Yesterday,  a  woman,  one  of  the  Lord's 
flock  here,  was  put  in  prison  for  teaching  her  neighbors  to  read 
the  Bible.  Another  imprisonment  has  likewise  just  taken  place 
at  Santa  Cruz,  a  town  at  some  distance  from  this,  in  the  case 
of  a  man  who  had  been  similarly  occupied.  The  adversary 
sees  that  the  progress  of  the  good  work  cannot  be  stopped  but 
by  precluding  all  access  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  they  seem 
determined  to  take  this  means  of  stopping  it. 

"  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  met  with  some  of  the 
disciples  here,  and  find  them  triumphing,  in  the  joy  of  the 
Lord  and  in  the  hope  of  glory,  over  every  fear  and  danger. 
'  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  their  strength.'  Their  faith  is  very 
simple  and  confiding.     They  are  '  little  children.' " 

"2<^  P.  S. — MaT/  12. — The  horizon  is  becoming  more  and 
more  cloudy.  Two  or  three  days  ago,  at  a  dinner  party,  the 
Bishop  of  Madeira  declared  exterminating  warfare  against  the 
Bible.  He  said  that  he  had  the  authorities  on  his  side,  and 
that  he  was  determined  to  put  down  all  dissent  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.     Yesterday,  while  the  bishop  was  preaching, 


182  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

he  fell  down  in  a  fit.     This  might  teach  him  that  the  Lord  is 
mightier  than  he.  W.  H." 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  when  he  wrote  these 
postscripts,  Mr.  Hewitson  baptized  the  child  adverted 
to  in  the  letter.  An  eye-witness  of  the  touching  scene 
thus  describes  it,  as  jotted  down  at  the  time : — 

"  Saturday,  May  10. — At  half-past  four  this  afternoon  our 
house  was  again  privileged  to  be  the  spot  where  another  of 
the  little  ones  of  this  poor  persecuted  people  was  given  to  the 
Lord  in  baptism.  Mr.  Hewitson  says  the  mother  reminds  him 
of  Mary,  who  wiped  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  her  tears.  She  was 
one  of  the  most  devout  and  bigoted  Papists,  but  now  she  has 
burned  all  her  images." 

The  next  letter  is  instructive.  Eomish  Priests  in 
Britain  affect  to  be  not  unfriendly  to  the  Bible.  Ma- 
deira exhibits  them  without  the  mask.  The  closing- 
paragraph  has  a  lesson  for  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
these  days  of  spiritual  drought.  Would  that  it  were 
learned ! 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Cltmont. — Madeira, May  \^ ,  1845. — 
The  work  of  the  Lord  has  many  and  great  difficulties  here  to 
contend  with  ;  but,  in  spite  of  them  all,  it  seems  to  be  making 
progress.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  conversions  are  still 
being  effected  through  the  Word,  and  that  former  converts  are 
growing  up  into  the  Lord,  and  becoming  more  and  more  cour- 
ageous for  the  encounter  of  a  still  more  fiery  trial  than  as  yet 
has  tried  them. 

"  Steps  are  being  taken  to  prevent  the  spread  of  Bible  light 
— Satan  cannot  rule  except  over  the  darkness  of  this  world. 
The  Bishop  of  Mad3ira  threatens  an  exterminating  warfare 


THE   BIBLE   PROSCRIBED,  183 

against  the  Word  of  God.  With  the  help  of  the  civil  magis- 
trate, he  purposes  to  rob  all  God's  people  here  of  their  Bibles. 
The  purpose  is  cruel  and  soul-destroying,  but  the  light  of  truth 
will  shine  into  the  heart  of  every  elect  child  of  God  ;  and  who 
shall  let  it  ?  The  Lord  reigneth,  and  reigneth  to  ledeem  His 
elect  ones. 

"The  persecutions  which  the  converts  have  to  endure  in 
private  from  relations  and  neighbors  is  fierce,  and  still  growing- 
fiercer.  A  few  days  ago,  one  of  the  women  who  visited  me 
was  literally  trembling  for  fear,  lest  the  watchful  adversary 
should  see  her  coming ;  and  two  young  men,  lambs  of  the 
flock,  told  me  the  same  day  that  their  enemies  were  not  6nly 
threatening  to  beat  them,  but  even  to  put  them  to  death.  The 
malignity  manifested  against  the  Word  of  God  is  rancorous 
and  virulent  in  the  extreme.  The  Word  of  God  is  daily  re- 
proached and  blasphemed.  But '  wisdom  is  justified  of  her 
children,'  and  they  hunger  and  thirst  after  the  Word — they 
long  for  it  as  the  hart  for  the  water-brooks.  They  are  willing 
and  even  glad,  to  suffer  privations  which  Scotland,  since  the 
days  of  the  Stuarts,  has  not  been  tried  with,  in  order  to  hav6 
the  privilege  of  hearing  the  Word  preached.  To  hear  the 
Word  preached  in  Madeira  involves  not  only  privations  and 
hardships  in  many  cases,  but  danger  in  all. 

"  My  strength  is,  if  at  all,  not  much  greater  than  when  I 
left  home.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that,  though  in  one  in- 
stance I  have,  since  coming  to  Madeira,  been  revisited  with 
hemorrhage,  my  lungs  are  yet,  on  the  whole,  a  little  stronger. 
The  climate  is  delightful. 

"  I  hear  that  Jedburgh  and  some  of  the  surrounding  parishes 
have  been  refreshed  recently  with  a  shower  of  blessing  from 
the  Lord.  Have  any  of  the  rain-drops  fallen  on  your  waste 
places  ?  Some  desperate  unbelief  there  must  be  in  the  churches, 
which  so  clogs  and  locks  the  wheels  of  Immanuel's  chariot. 
The  Word  of  God  is  what  it  was  in  apostolic  and  in  Reforma- 
tion days — the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  not  straitened — the  love 


184  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

of  the  Father  is  not  waxed  cold — the  bowels  of  Christ  still 
yearn  over  lost  souls  ;  but,  oh !  the  curse  of  Nazareth  seems 
to  be  upon  the  churches — '  The  Lord  could  not  do  many 
mighty  works  there,  because  of  their  unbelief.'  Unbelief  in 
God's  children  keeps  sinners  asleep. — Your  affectionate  friend, 

W.  H." 

Mr.  Hewitson  had  himself  learned  not  to  limit  God. 
Before  proceeding  with  the  narrative,  it  may  interest 
the  reader  to  peruse  a  few  sentences,  in  which  he  re- 
veals the  source  of  his  own  expecting  faith : — 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq.,  Edinburgh. — Madeira,  June 
5,  1845. — If  we  would  let  Gods  thoughts,  as  they  are  revealed 
in  the  Word,  come  in  and  fill  the  chamber  of  our  minds,  how 
different  our  views  and  feelings  would  be  regarding  both  God 
and  ourselves — both  His  thoughts  towards  us,  and  our  standing 
in  His  sight !  What  an  ado  unbelief  sometimes  stirs  up  within 
us,  as  if  all  were  over  !  What  weeping  and  dirging,  as  if  of 
minstrels  waking  the  dead,  sometimes  are  to  be  heard  within ! 
Were  God's  thoughts  then  to  be  let  in,  it  would  be  like  Jesus 
coming  into  the  midst  of  the  mourners,  and  saying,  '  Why 
make  ye  this  ado  and  weep  ?  the  damsel  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth.'  As  the  minstrels  and  other  mourners  are  put  out 
of  the  house  by  Jesus,  so  must  our  thoughts  be  put  out  of  our 
hearts  by  God's  thoughts.  Then,  all  being  still,  the  sweet 
voice  of  the  Redeemer  will  be  heard — '  Tabitha,  arise.' " 

We  continue  the  narrative.  He  who  makes  the 
wrath  of  men  to  praise  Him,  and  restrains  the  remain- 
der of  wrath,  is  seen  Avorking,  at  once  in  the  steadfast- 
ness He  gives  to  the  persecuted  converts,  and  in  the 
shield  He  throws  around  His  missionary  servant,  not 
suffering  the  enemy  to  arrest  his  labors  : — 

"To  ins  Pauknts. — Funchal,  Madeira,  June  \2,\%i5. — 


STEADFASTNESS  OF   CONVERTS.  185 

My  operations  among  the  Portuguese  have  encountered  no 
further  obstruction,  and  I  trust  that  I  may  be  permitted  to 
carry  them  on  for  a  little  longer.  To  arrest  the  work  at  the 
present  moment  would  be,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  appear- 
ances, to  inflict  great  spiritual  injury  on  the  souls  of  not  a  few ; 
for,  while  many  are  established  in  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  there 
are  others  who  as  yet  are  either  but  weak  in  the  faith,  and  in 
much  need  of  being  edified,  or  only  inquiring  after  the  Saviour, 
and  in  need  of  being  directed.  It  is  certain  that  the  Lord, 
who  knows  all  His  own,  will  not  leave  off  going  for  them  until 
He  find  them,  every  one,  whatever  instrumentahty  He  may  be 
pleased  to  employ — mine,  or  that  of  another  better  furnished 
for  the  work.  Hitherto  He  has  shielded  my  labors  wonderfully ; 
for,  though  there  were  many  who,  if  summoned  as  witnesses, 
might  have  deponed  that  much  of  my  doctrine  was  contrary 
to  that  of  Rome,  yet  only  a  few  persons  were  examined,  whose 
evidence  did  not  afford  ground  for  interfering  with  me,  so  that, 
by  means  of  keeping  my  meetings  as  secret  as  possible,  I  am 
ible  to  hold  them  almost  daily.  The  police  has  meanwhile 
discontinued  its  open  vigilance. 

"  The  work  of  persecution,  however,  is  going  forward  against 
the  converts.  A  brother  of  Francisco,  my  servant,  was,  about 
ten  days  ago,  tried  for  reading  and  speaking  of  the  truths  of 
the  Bible  in  his  own  house,  and  sentenced  to  six  months  of 
imprisonment.  Yesterday  four  others  were  imprisoned  :  three 
for  twenty-five  days  each,  being  a  husband,  his  wife,  and  one 
of  their  children ;  they  had  been  teaching  their  neighbors  to 
read.  The  fourth,  an  excellent  young  man,  who  should  be 
made  an  elder  of  the  Portuguese  Church  in  Madeira,  had,  on 
a  person  saying  to  him  '  that  the  Church  of  Rome  was  the 
mother  of  us  all,'  replied,  '  Then  keep  her  to  yourself  For 
merely  saying  this,  he  has  been  sentenced  to  lie  in  jail  for  four 
months.  Others  are  being  threatened  with  similar  prosecu- 
tions, for  similar  offences.  A  young  man,  an  advocate,  who 
came  out  in  the  same  vessel  with  me  from  Lisbon,  pleaded  the 


186  MEMOIR   OF  KEY.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

cause  of  some  of  the  converts  and  others  friendly  to  the  truth 
who  have  of  late  been  tried. 

"  Dr.  Kalley  and  his  family  intend  to  leave  Madeira,  on  a 
visit  to  Scotland,  in  the  same  vessel  with  Mr.  "Wood.  They 
will  probably  be  absent  for  three  or  four  months.  I  have  be- 
come acquainted  with  a  few  families  here,  so  that  I  will  not  feel 
so  lonely  during  their  absence  as  I  otherwise  might  have  done. 
Last  week  Mr.  Wood  was  so  kind  as  to  come  up  with  me  to 
my  house.  He  leaves  his  furniture  and  pony  in  my  hands.  A 
pony  is  quite  necessary  here  for  invalids,  the  country  is  so  steep. 
Walking  up  the  hills  would  soon  be  the  death  of  a  consump- 
tive person.  Funchal  lies  along  the  shore,  and  up-hill  along 
the  mountains,  which  rise  rapidly  above  it  to  a  height  of  about 
four  thousand  feet.  My  house  is  considerably  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  on  the  side  of  a  steep  street  called  Mountain  Street, 
or  Rua  da  Monte.  Dr.  Kalley's  bouse  is  directly  opposite. 
The  country  is  grand,  but,  to  my  eye,  it  is  not  beautiful.  In 
point  of  beauty,  I  think  Scotland  surpasses  it." 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Funchal,  Madeira,  June 
12,  1845. —  ....  I  am  now  living  in  my  own  house,  and 
have  meetings  in  it  almost  daily.  They  are,  of  course,  small 
in  point  of  number,  and  assembled  with  all  due  regard  to  se- 
crecy. After  two  examinations  of  witnesses,  which  afforded  no 
sufficient  grounds  of  procedure  against  me,  the  authorities  seem 
to  have  suspended  my  case  for  the  present,  leaving  the  process, 
I  suppose,  with  blanks  to  be  afterwards  filled  up,  when  more 
available  evidence  shall  have  been  obtained.  The  Lord's  shield 
has  been  very  manifestly  around  the  work  in  which  I  am  en- 
gaged ;  and  I  hope,  by  Ilis  good  hand  upon  me,  to  be  enabled 
and  permitted  to  carry  it  on  for  a  little  longer  without  inter- 
ference. 

"  A  great  flame  of  indignation  was  kindled  in  our  neighbor- 
hood, by  the  suspicion  having  gone  abroad  that  a  child  had 
been  baptized  in  the  Presbyterian  form.  The  suspicion  was 
well-founded,   but  no   eye-witness  could   be   found.      About 


"WRATH  OF  ADVERSARIES.  187 

twenty  persons  conspired  to  assassinate  Dr.  Kalley,  on  the  sus- 
picion that  he  had  baptized  the  child  in  question  ;  but  they 
discovered  that  it  was  not  he  who  had  done  it.  Lord  Aber- 
deen's letters  have  given  Portuguese  persecution  of  the  Lord's 
truth  and  people  more  boldness.     The  Lord  reigneth  ! 

"  You  are  aware  that  my  purpose  in  the  Lord  last  summer 
was  to  set  fairly  to  work  in  the  vineyard,  if  for  another  year 
the  disease  should  continue  inactive  in  my  chest.  I  have  been 
acting  pursuantly  to  that  purpose,  and  now,  while  it  is  day,  I 
wish  to  work.  Instead  of  preaching  to  the  Portuguese  on  Sab- 
bath, I  have  undertaken  to  conduct  the  worship  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  during  Mr.  "Wood's  absence.  There  is  only  one 
diet  during  the  summer  months.  On  two  occasions  I  have 
preached  for  Mr.  "Wood  already.  O  to  be  a  minister,  to  both 
Portuguese  and  British,  of  the  Spirit  which  giveth  life  ! 

*'  My  health  is  as  usual — no  greater  strength.  Imprisonment 
would  weaken  me  very  much,  in  all  hkelihood  ;  but  I  expect^ 
with  the  Lord's  help,  to  continue  at  liberty  for  some  time  yet. 
I  believe  that  bonds  await  me,  but  even  this  the  Lord  can  keep 
me  from  suffering,  if  it  seem  good  in  His  sight.  To  do  His 
will,  and  to  suflfer  His  will,  should  be  our  every-hour  wish  and 
aim." 

"To  HIS  Sister. — Madeira,  July  11,  1845. — It  was  re- 
ported a  few  days  ago,  that  a  writer  was  to  be  posted  at  my 
door  to  take  down  the  names  of  the  people  who  might  enter ; 
but  as  yet  he  has  not  made  his  appearance.  Meanwhile,  pub- 
lic notice  has  been  given,  by  means  of  placards,  I  believe,  fixed 
at  the  church-doors,  that  all  who  have  not  been  attending  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  not  going  to  confess  to  the  priest, 
are  required  to  confess,  or  attend  church,  within  the  space  of 
ten  days,  at  the  risk  of  being  imprisoned.  The  ten  days  have 
not  yet  expired.  Whether  the  threat  of  imprisonment  will  be 
carried  into  effect  or  not,  remains  to  be  seen. 

"  The  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  alike  seem  to  breathe 
nothing  but  war  against  the  Bible,  and  against  those  who  re- 


188  MEMOIR   OF  REV.    VT.   H.   HEWITSOX. 

joice  in  its  blessed  truths.  It  is  expected  that  means  will  ere 
long  be  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  tearing  away  from  the 
converts  all  the  Bibles  which  they  possess,  and  which  are  to 
them  so  great  a  fountain  of  strength  and  consolation  amidst 
their  spiritual  privations.  '  They  make  war  against  the  Lamb, 
but  the  Lamb  shall  overcome  them,  for  He  is  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords.'  They  make  war  against  the  saints,  but 
the  saints  shall  '  overcome  them  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
and  the  testimony  which  they  hold.' 

"  Maria  Joaquina  was  liberated  from  prison  on  Thursday  of 
last  week — the  three  months  of  imprisonment,  to  which  she 
had  been  sentenced  by  the  court  of  Relaqao  in  Lisbon,  having 
then  expired.  I  saw  her  a  short  time  after  her  enlargement, 
and  on  Saturday  morning  she  was  present  at  our  meeting  for 
worship.  She  had  been  in  prison  for  two  years  and  some 
months.     She  is  an  applicant  for  admission  to  the  communion." 

In  the  letter  -whicli  follows,  Mr.  Hewitson  meets  a 
question  of  duty,  raised  by  the  growing  virulence  of 
the  persecution.  The  principles  stated  are  not  a  little 
momentous  in  their  bearing  upon  the  duty  of  the 
Lord's  ^vitnesses  in  other  places  than  Madeira  : — 

"To    THE    COXVENER    OF     THE     COLONIAL    COMMITTEE,    Dr. 

James  Buchanan, — Madeira,  August  15,  1845. — On  the 
morning  of  Saturday  the  2Gth  of  last  month,  I  was  visited  by  a 
public  notary,  who  served  me  with  an  intimation,  as  it  is  called, 
from  the  administration  of  police,  warning  me  to  discontinue  meet- 
ing in  my  house  with  Portuguese  subjects  for  religious  purposes, 
'  under  pain  of  being  proceeded  against,  and  handed  over  to 
the  judicial  power.'  The  charge  with  which  I  am  threatened, 
in  case  of  my  not  attending  to  the  intimation,  is  one  of  disobe- 
dience to  the  constituted  authorities,  in  addition,  no  doubt,  to 
that  of  unlawful  interference  with  the  State  religion.  I  have 
the  satisfaction  of  being  fully  assured  that  the  new  step  which 


THREAT   OF  IMPRISONMENT — DUTY.  1S9 

has  been  taken  against  me  has  not  been  occasioned  by  any  neg- 
lect of  the  means  that  seemed  likely  to  prevent  it,  if  the  pre- 
vention of  it,  in  a  place  like  Madeira,  had  at  all  been  possible. 

"  Since  the  intimation  was  put  into  my  hands,  close  watch- 
ing has  been  kept  up  by  private  persons  in  my  neighborhood 
who  have  been  employed  for  the  purpose.  This  circumstance, 
and  hkewise  the  prevalence  for  some  time  past  of  considerable 
public  excitement,  arising  from  the  anniversary  celebration  of 
religious  feasts,  has  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  see  any  but 
a  very  few  of  the  Portuguese  during  the  interval  referred  to. 
The  inadequacy  of  my  bodily  strength  to  bear  up  much  longer 
under  the  daily  returning  and  daily  exhausting  labor  in  which 
I  had  been  engaged,  afforded  an  additional  motive  in  favor  of 
a  temporary  suspension  of  the  work. 

"  But  is  the  work,  now  suspended,  to  be  abandoned  alto- 
gether ?  The  committee  will  see  that  I  am  placed  in  some- 
what difficult  circumstances,  and  I  should  be  glad  to  have 
their  advice  as  to  the  course  which  I  ought  to  follow,  as  most 
in  accordance  with  the  revealed  will  of  Jesus,  the  great  Head 
of  the  churches. 

"  I  may  have  been  violating  Portuguese  law,  but  I  have 
been  obeying  the  law  of  Christ,  whose  sole  supremacy  over  the 
church  in  Portugal,  as  well  as  in  Scotland,  and  whose  preroga- 
tives as  King  of  kings,  no  human  legislature  or  court  of  justice 
is  competent  to  set  aside.  The  only  commission  which  the 
minister  of  the  gospel  absolutely  requires,  is  that  which  bears 
the  seal  of  Jesus :  '  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
in  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations.'  Who  in 
heaven  or  in  earth  can  nullify  this  commission  ?  Who  is  com- 
petent to  prohibit  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  any  creature 
under  heaven  ?  The  apostles,  who  preached  on  the  divine 
warrant  of  Jesus,  did  homage  to  the  universal  power  and  sove- 
reignty with  which  lie  is  invested,  by  trampling  under  foot  the 
prohibitions  of  the  civil  magistrate  :  "  We  will  obey  God  rather 
than  men.'     Should  not  the  Free  Church — which;  more  speci- 


190  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

fically  than  any  other  church  iu  the  world,  is  charged  by  its 
divine  Head  with  the  office  of  bearing  testimony,  in  these  last 
days  of  His  long-suffering,  to  His  royal  claims  as  King  of 
kings,  no  less  than  as  King  of  saints — remember  its  high  office 
everywhere  as  well  as  in  Scotland,  and  challenge  the  obedience 
of  all  nations  to  the  Lord  Jesus  ?  When  the  Lord  pre-inti- 
mates  to  His  ministers  that  they  should  be  brought  before 
kings  and  rulers  for  His  name's  sake,  He  adds,  by  way  of  di- 
recting them  to  use  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  them  of  ad- 
vocating His  claims, '  And  it  shall  turn  to  you  for  a  testimony.' 
"  Such  considerations  arise  in  my  mind  in  connection  with 
my  present  circumstances ;  but  I  don't  yet  see  clearly  what 
course  should  be  adopted  as  the  most  scriptural.  To  continue 
my  labors,  in  any  degree,  much  longer^  will  inevitably  subject 
me  to  the  threatened  prosecution.  Yet  I  cannot  see  it  to  be 
my  duty,  on  this  account,  to  abandon  them  altogether.  When 
the  risk  of  being  apprehended  is  more  imminent,  I  might  flee 
from  the  island,  but  I  am  not  certain  that  such  a  step  would 
be  consistent  with  entire  faithfulness  to  Christ.  Will  you  favor 
me  with  your  advice  on  the  subject  as  soon  as  you  conveniently 
can  2" 

Under  cover  of  niglit,  Mr.  Hewitson  continued  to 
hold  his  meetings.  An  interesting  notice  of  one  of 
them  is  given  by  two  English  residents,  who  were 
present.     The  one  writes : — 

^''Friday,  August  22. — ^This  night  we  are, at  eight  o'clock,  to 
*  keep  the  feast'  in  secret,  and  with  closed  doors  and  windows, 
in  our  dining-room,  with  this  poor  and  persecuted  little  flock  of 
Christ.  The  service,  if  discovered,  will  send  His  dear  servant  to 
prison ;  but  the  Lord  is  his  keeper." 

"On  the  22d  August,"  writes  the  other,  "we  sat  down  at  the 
table  of  our  Lord  with  a  small  company — twenty-one  Portu- 
guese and  seven  of  our  own  people.    Three  of  them  were  pris- 


ILLNESS.  191 

miers^  who  had  been  allowed  by  the  jailer  to  get  out  on  parole, 
promising  to  return  at  a  certain  hour — such  confidence  did  he 
place  in  the  word  of  these  poor  persecuted  Christians !  Mr. 
Hewitson  spoke  on  1  Cor.  xi.  22-29.  As  we  lived  so  near  some 
of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  truth,  the  people  could  not  meet 
till  a  late  hour,  and  separated  about  ten  o'clock.  The  police  at 
that  time  were  very  vigilant,  too,  in  watching  Mr.  Hewitson  and 
the  people,  so  that  all  his  intercourse  with  them  had  to  be 
strictly  private,  and  no  meeting  of  any  kind  could  be  held  in 
his  own  house." 

As  tlie  storm  gathered,  the  Lord  hid  His  servant 
for  a  little  season.  His  health  had  been  suffering 
under  the  incessant  work  of  preaching.  A  serious  ill- 
ness now  interrupted  his  labors. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1845,  1846. 

Madeira  —  Illness — Consolations — Progress  of  the  Work — Training 
of  the  Converts — Dangers — Secret  Disciples — Theological  Class — 
Communions — New  Conversions — Native  Ministry — Threat  of  Im- 
prisonment— Ordination  of  Elders — Outrages — Dr.  Kalley's  Escape 
— Sufiferings  of  Converts — Their  Exile. 

After  an  interval  of  two  months  from  the  date  of 
the  last  letter,  we  find  Mr.  Hewitson  thus  recording 
God's  dealings  with  him : — 

"  To  "William  Dickson,  Esq.,  Edinburgh. — Madeira,  Oc- 
tober 15,  1845. — On  the  2d  ultimo  I  went  on  a  visit  to  the 
Serra  St.  Antonio,  fifteen  miles  from  this,  where  I  preached 
twice,  in  the  premises  of  the  merchant  whose  guest  I  was,  to 
considerable  congregations  of  Portuguese.  Nearly  two  hun- 
dred must  have  been  present  on  the  second  of  the  two  evenings. 
Scoffers  were  there,  but  the  great  number  deeply  interested. 
The  singing  full  of  heart,  very  affecting,  and  impressive.  I 
preached  in  weakness  of  body,  laboring  under  the  commence- 
ment of  a  serious  illness.  While  I  was  declaring  the  Word  of 
Life  to  the  assembled  multitude,  I  saw  the  extreme  probability 
of  ray  being,  in  consequence,  arrested  and  imprisoned ;  but 
*  these  things  did  not  move  me,'  for  '  necessity  was  laid  upon 
me  to  praach  the  gospel.' " 

"  YTo  another^ — The  attack  was  dangerous,  for  I  was  '  sick 
nigh   unto  death;'  but  the  Lord  has  mercifully  spared  me. 


CONSOLATIONS.  193 

The  disease  had  become  very  decided  before  I  could  convenient- 
ly return  to  Funchal  and  procure  medical  aid.  The  lady  of 
the  English  merchant  in  whose  house  I  was  a  guest  at  the 
Serra  told  me  that  her  father  died  of  the  illness  under  which 
I  was  laboring.  I  was  carried  home  in  a  hammock,  a  usual 
mode  of  conveyance  in  this  mountainous  land.  The  medical 
man  who  attended,  told  me  that  longer  delay  would  have  made 
medical  aid  altogether  too  late.  For  two  or  three  days  I 
scarcely  expected  recovery.  I  never  went  so  far  down  the  dark 
valley,  nor  got  so  steady  a  gaze  over  the  verge  of  time  into  the 
depths  of  eternity.  '  The  Lord  was  with  me,  so  fhat  I  feared 
no  evil.  His  rod  and  staff,  they  comforted  me.'  My  conva- 
lescence has  been  slow.  I  am  now  quite  recovered  from  the 
disease,  but  I  have  little  strength,  and  am  more  emaciated  in 
body  than  ever  I  was  in  my  life.  When  I  look  at  my  limbs,  I 
think  that  I  shall  never  again  recover  strength ;  but  the  Lord 
can  make  me  strong — He  can  do  it — and  what  He  can  do.  He 
will  do,  if  He  be  pleased  yet  to  use  my  services  in  the  world. 
Yesterday  was  the  sixth  Sabbath  that  I  could  not  meet  with 
the  Scotch  congregation.  For  two  of  these  weeks  I  have  been 
in  the  house  of  a  Christian,  Mrs.  Walker,  who  kindly  visited 
me  almost  daily  when  I  was  sick,  to  read  the  precious  Word 
of  God." 

"  [  Jb  another.l — It  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  spare  me  yet  a 
little  longer.  I  bless  Him  for  the  correction  of  His  rod.  The 
sweetest  weeks  that  I  have  spent  in  Madeira  were  the  five  last 
past,  during  which  I  have  been  either  on  the  bed  of  languish- 
ing, or  laboring  under  the  infirmities  of  a  tardy  convalescence. 
*  We  are  complete  in  Christ.'  This  has  been  my  sweet  ex- 
perience. 

"  If  we  would  know  in  a  way  most  satisfactory  what  the 
real  ground  is  on  which  we  are  resting  our  hope  of  eternal  life, 
we  should  cover  ourselves  with  all  our  vileness  and  guilt,  and 
do  nothing  to  get  peace,  but  simply  wait,  looking  on  Christ,  till, 
in  spite  of  all  our  felt  vileness  and  guilt,  we  obtain  peace  from 


194  MEMOlii  OF   REV,   W.    II.   IIEAVITSON. 

Him.  Looking  steadily  on  Christ,  as  set  before  us  in  the  Word, 
as  hfted  up  before  our  eyes  on  the  pole  of  Scripture,  we  shall 
experience  an  increase  of  faith ;  for  it  is  a  law  of  our  being, 
that  if  we  look  fixedly,  and  steadfastly  set  our  attention,  on  any 
truth,  we  come  to  clearer  apprehensions  and  surer  knowledge  of 
that  truth,  and  to  have  our  faith  in  it  more  firmly  established. 
The  more  we  experience,  by  means  of  steadfast  looking  unto 
Jesus,  an  increase  of  faith  in  His  finished  work,  the  more  steady 
and  solid  is  the  assurance  that  we  have  of  our  personal  accept- 
ableness  and  actual  acceptedness  in  the  Beloved." 

Like  those  tropical  regions  wliose  "  unimpeded  com- 
merce with  the  sun"  clothes  them  with  ever  new  ver- 
dure, Mr.  Hewitson  seemed  now,  more  than  ever,  to 
abide  in  the  sunshine  of  God's  face,  and  thus  to  abound 
with  ever  new  peace  and  joy.  A  touching  note, 
written  in  pencil,  from  his  sick-chamber,  in  acknowl- 
edgment of  a  little  token  of  sympathy  sent  him  by 
an  afflicted  disciple,  indicates  the  mode  of  his  daily 
Christian  life : — 

'■'■Friday  p.m.,  Sej^tember  12,  1845. — ^The  Lord  send  you, 
fresh  and  in  bloom  from  His  own  garden,  and  plucked  with 
His  own  hand,  sweet  flowers  ;  and  may  many  a  soft  breathing 
of  the  south  wind  come,  and  make  them  exhale  their  odors, 
that  your  soul  may  be  filled  with  their  sweetness.  The  rose 
and  verbena  you  sent  me  yesterday  are  now  withered  and  dry. 
So,  too,  even  the  sweetest  flowers  that  come  to  us  from  the 
Lord's  garden  soon  lose  their  bloom  and  freshness,  for  Christ 
would  not  that  we  should  rest  satisfied  with  His  gifts  and  com- 
forts, and  the  tokens  of  His  love,  instead  of  saying,  '  Thou 
only  art  my  portion,  0  Lord.' 

"  When  we  find  the  Lord's  flowers  withering  in  our  hands, 
we  should  not  vex  our  souls,  as  we  are  apt  to  do ;  for  He  who 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS.  195 

gave  them  is  Himself  still  the  same,  and  we  glorify  Him  when 
we  rest  in  Him,  and  cleave  to  Him  as  our  portion,  even  when 
we  have  none  of  the  precious  gifts  of  His  comforting  grace. 
Nor  should  we  say,  as  Satan  will  tempt  us  to  do,  when  the 
Lord's  sweet  flowers  are  all  dried  and  dead,  that  we  have 
sinned  away  our  comforts,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Lord  is  now 
again  hiding  His  face  from  us.  He  is  not  hiding  His  face, 
though  His  flowers  be  dry  ;  but  He  would  have  us  ever  going 
again  through  the  gently  dropping  dews  of  prayer  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  knock  at  His  garden-gate,  and  ask  Him  for  a  fresh 
gift  of  His  choicest  flowers.  He  withers  the  flowers  we  have, 
that  we  may  always  come  to  him  for  more. 

"  Oh,  matchless  love  of  Jesus  !  He  wishes  us  to  come 
again  and  again,  for  He  sees  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  when 
we  lift  up  the  voice  of  prayer  and  show  the  countenance  of  faith 
and  hope  before  the  throne." 

Mr.  Hewitson  now  adopted  a  new  expedient  for 
furthering  the  work.  The  growing  rage  of  the  ad- 
versary indicated  too  plainly  the  approacli  of  a  crisis. 
For  this  he,  as  a  wise  master-builder,  resolved  to  pre- 
pare.    He  thus  explains  his  method : — 

"  To  THE  Convener  of  the  Colonial  Committee. — Ma- 
deira, December  17,  1845. —  ....  After  my  recovery,  I  not 
only  changed  my  residence,  but  likewise  my  plan  of  operations, 
so  that,  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  these  means  of  eluding 
hostile  observation,  I  may  be  able  for  some  time  longer  to  pros- 
ecute the  work  without  being  molested. 

"  Perceiving  that  the  Lord  was  carrying  on  his  work  among 
the  people  at  St.  Antonio  da  Serra  and  elsewhere,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  meetings  held  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  by 
some  of  the  converts,  in  their  own  houses,  for  the  purpose  of 
reading  the  Scriptures,  of  exhorting  one  another,  and  of  pray- 
er— seeing,  besides,  that  the  exigencies  of  Madeira  could  only 


196  MEMOIR  CF  KEV.   W.   U.  HEWITS0:N. 

be  supplied  by  means  of  appointing  such  of  the  converts  aa 
had  made  greatest  advancement  in  spiritual  knowledge  and 
experience  to  labor  as  catechists  in  their  several  neighborhoods, 
— I  was  led,  I  trust  by  the  counsel  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  think 
of  organizing  a  class,  drawn  together  from  among  the  choicest 
of  the  converts,  and  of  carrying  them  through  a  systernatic 
course  of  rehgious  instruction,  with  the  view  of  furnishing 
them,  under  Divine  grace,  for  the  office  and  work  of  catechists. 
Dr.  Kalley  so  highly  approved  of  the  plan  as  to  recommend 
entire  abstinence  from  pastoral  work,  that  I  might  be  the  bet- 
ter able,  in  point  of  bodily  strength,  to  carry  it  into  execution. 
Though  Mr.  Nairn  did  not  arrive  sooner  than  last  week  to  re- 
he  ve  me  from  the  charge  of  the  Presbyterian  congregation,  I 
had  a  few  weeks  previously  entered  on  the  work  of  instructing 
such  a  class  as  that  referred  to,  of  Portuguese  converts. 

"  The  class  consists  of  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  persons,  some 
of  whom  come  from  St.  Antonio  da  Serra,  and  from  another 
place  nearly  as  far  distant.  The  father-in-law  of  one  of  the 
two  principal  judges  of  the  island — being  one  of  the  converts, 
and  deeply  interested  in  the  business  of  the  class — is  frequent- 
ly present.  The  regularity  of  attendance  on  the  part  of  the 
students,  if  I  may  so  designate  them,  and  the  earnestness  of 
their  attention,  are  highly  gratifying ;  nor  is  there  a  single  cir- 
.M  cumstance  from  which  I  at  first  augured  difficulty,  and  even  dis- 
appointment, in  endeavoring  to  carry  out  my  views,  that  has 
not — thanks  to  the  Lord  for  His  goodness ! — been  hitherto 
overcome.  By  examining  the  class  on  what  they  have  last 
heard,  I  can  both  ascertain  whether  they  have  listened  with  in- 
teUigence,  and  help  to  deepen  in  their  memories  the  im- 
pressions previously  made.  At  each  meeting  we  have  prayer 
twice.  One  of  the  prayers  is  conducted  by  myself,  and  the 
other  by  some  member  of  the  class.  The  manner  in  which 
some  of  them  pray  is  afFectingly  simple  and  child-like ;  and 
from  this,  more  than  anything  else,  am  I  encouraged  to  enter- 
tain good  hopes  as  to  the  issue  of  my  present  labors.     Fruit- 


PERSECUTION.  197 

less  indeed  were  my  labors,  if  those  -who  are  the  subject  of 
them  were  not  enlightened,  and  led,  and  furnished  by  the 
Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications. 

"  As  the  Lord  may  give  me  opportunity,  I  wish  to  perform 
still,  in  addition  to  the  function  of  a  teacher,  those  of  a  pastor 
and  evangelist.  Circumstances  at  present,  however,  necessarily 
circumscribe  operations  of  the  latter  description  within  a  nar- 
row compass.  A  few  weeks  ago  I  baptized  one  child,  and  there 
are  at  present  three  others  which  I  have  to  baptize.  The  or- 
dinance has  already  been  administered  to  five  infants  since  I 
came  to  the  island. 

"  Now  that  I  have  become  better  acquainted  with  the  char- 
acter of  those  who  have  been  converted  from  Romanism,  and 
the  influences  by  which  their  character  is  affected,  I  am  in  a 
better  condition  to  estimate  aright  the  nature  of  the  change 
which  they  have  undergone.  I  believe  that  a  good  work  is 
still  going  silently  forward.  Some  are  inquiring,  under  painful 
conviction  of  guilt,  after  the  way  of  salvation.  But  the  wicked 
one  has  likewise  been  busy,  and  that  in  other  ways  than  by 
moving  persecution  against  the  converts.  Some  have  fallen 
into  flagrant  sin  ;  and  of  these,  three  individuals,  who  are  com- 
municants, must  be  suspended  from  the  Lord's  table.  I  believe 
that  many  of  God's  people  at  home  remember  this  place  in  their 
prayers,  and  I  trust  that  I  am  not  forgotten  by  the  few  who 
are  acquainted  with  my  position  and  work.  The  difficulties 
and  discouragements  connected  with  the  work  are  peculiarly 
great;  nor  can  I  conceal  the  fact,  that  the  work  is  in  some 
measure  perilous.  I  trust  that,  for  the  glory  of  His  own 
name,  the  Lord  will  give  me  the  faith  which  shall  enable  me 
to  overcome." 

In  anotlier  letter  lie  gives  some  details  of  tlie  per- 
secution : — 

*'  To  THE  Secretary  of  the  Colokial  Committee,  James 
Balfour,  Jun.,  Esq.,  W.S. — Madeira,  December  ll,  1845. — 


198  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.    II.   IIEWITSON. 

The  Serra  people  are  still  in  prison,  and  when  their  trial  will 
come  on  it  is  impossible  to  foretell,  as  in  this  island  judicial 
procedure  is  not  regulated  by  law,  but  is  entirely  dependent 
on  the  caprice  of  the  judges.  The  number  of  prisoners  now 
in  jail,  for  reading  the  Word  of  God  and  other  offences  against 
the  Man  of  Sin,  is  twenty-eight  persons.  Six  of  these  were 
arrested  and  imprisoned  a  few  weeks  ago.  Their  crime  was 
that  they  had  met  one  Sabbath  evening  to  edify  one  another, 
by  reading  the  Word  and  social  prayer.  Three  other  persons 
who  were  thrown  into  prison  at  the  same  time  have  since  been 
hberated,  on  the  ground  of  illegal  arrest  and  false  imprison- 
ment ;  but,  in  accordance  with  the  usual  mode  of  judicial  ad- 
ministration here,  they  were  subjected,  notwithstanding,  to  the 
hardship  of  paying  conjointly  about  £l  of  costs. 

"  I  am  informed  that  the  usual  practice  in  dealing  with  cases 
of  so-called  religious  delinquency  is,  first  to  prepare  the  sen- 
tence in  writing,  and  afterwards  to  go  through  the  empty  form 
of  trying  the  case,  and  hearing  evidence.  A  family  of  three 
persons  were,  two  or  three  months  ago,  made  aware  that,  for 
not  going  to  confession,  and  for  similar  offences,  which  were  to 
be  made  the  grounds  of  a  criminal  process,  there  was  suspend- 
ed over  them  the  already-prepared  sentence  of  banishment  to 
the  coast  of  Africa  for  seven  years,  superadded  to  an  oppressive 
fine!  Before  they  were  formally  indicted,  and  while  the  initial 
steps  in  order  to  an  indictment  were  being  taken,  they  eluded 
the  impending  infliction  by  quitting  the  island  for  Demerara. 
Those  who  have  embraced  the  truth  have,  with  only  a  few  ex- 
ceptions, remained  firm  under  the  assaults  of  persecution. 
Many  who  were  just  beginning  to  taste  the  good  Word  of  God 
have  shrunk  back  through  fear,  their  danger  being  greater  than, 
with  so  little  light  as  they  had  on  Divine  things,  they  were 
able  to  encounter.  I  believe — I  know  for  a  fact — that  there 
are  some  here  who  read  the  Bible  in  secret,  and  look  to  Christ 
alone  for  salvation,  without  having  boldness  enough  in  the 
Lord  to  confess  Him  openly.    Elijah  was  the  only  public  wit- 


A   CASE   OF  BACKSLIDING.  199 

ness  for  God  in  Israel,  yet  God  had  in  Israel  seven  thousand 
hidden  worshippers.  It  is  well  to  worship  the  true  God,  even 
in  secret : — it  is  better  to  be  an  open  witness,  an  Elijah." 

A  case  occurred  among  the  English  congregation, 
which  illustrates  strikingly  Mr.  Hewitson's  own  walk. 
His  whole  conversation  and  bearing  were  felt,  by  those 
who  were  privileged  to  witness  them,  to  be  a  standing 
protest  against  the  sin  here  exhibited  in  its  true  color : — 

"To  HIS  Sister. — Madeira,  December  19,  1845. — This 
morning  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  congregation  called  on 
me  in  a  state  of  soul-distress.  She  has  been  losing  the  savor 
of  Divine  truth  amidst  the  worldly  society  with  which  she  has 
been  too  freely  mixing.  A  Christian  friend  having  warned  her 
of  her  manifest  declension  in  personal  godliness,  she  was  at 
first  offended,  but,  on  a  second  and  third  repetition  of  the  same 
warning,  she  was  led  to  consider  her  ways.  She  finds  that  the 
stream  of  the  world  has  been  insensibly  bearing  her  downward, 
and  that  her  steps  have  been  turned  away  from  Jesus  towards 
the  pit.  She  is  cast  down  under  a  sense  of  her  backsliding  ; 
but  again,  with  thankfulness  for  the  warning  she  has  received, 
as  it  were  from  God  himself,  is  turning  her  face  Zionward. 
Experience  shows  her  the  necessity  of  coming  out  and  being 
separate  from  the  world.  She  sees  that  she  cannot  have  fel- 
lowship both  with  the  world  and  with  Jesus.  The  world  that 
knew  not  Jesus  when  He  came,  is  the  same  world  still.  Jesus, 
who  was  despised  and  crucified  by  the  world,  is  the  same  Jesus 
still.  Are  we  in  Christ  ?  Then  Christ  is  formed  in  us,  and 
dwells  in  us,  and  Christ  in  us  lives  and  feels,  even  as  He  lived, 
and  thought,  and  felt  when  He  was  in  the  world.  The  love  of 
the  world  is  enmity  to  God." 

The  next  letter  continues  the  narrative  of  the  work 
among  the  native  church  : — 


200  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   II.   HEWITSON. 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Madeira,  January  31,  1846. — • 
....  The  members  [of  the  class]  are  gathered  together — 
some  from  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  city,  and  others 
from  as  great  distances  as  twelve  and  fifteen,  and,  I  believe, 
even  sixteen  or  eighteen,  miles.  For  a  considerable  time  I 
have  been  engaged  in  lecturing  to  them,  twice  in  the  week,  on 
the  various  doctrines  of  a  consecutive,  but  simply  arranged, 
course  of  Bible  theology.  Their  attendance  is  regular,  and 
their  interest  in  the  business  of  the  class  such  as  to  afford  me 
great  encouragement.  There  is  one  weekly  examination  on 
the  topics  of  the  lecture  last  delivered,  and  an  opportunity  is 
given,  at  the  close  of  each  lecture,  of  putting  questions  with  a 
view  to  the  elucidation  of  what  may  not  have  been  fully  un- 
derstood. 

"  The  concluding  prayer  at  each  meeting  is  conducted  by 
some  one  of  the  members  of  the  class.  Some  of  them  pray 
with  considerable  emotion,  and  some  of  them  with  touching 
ndivetti  and  simplicity  of  manner.  One  of  them,  who  had  on 
the  preceding  day  been  released  from  jail  after  an  imprison- 
ment of  six  months,  came  to  me,  after  conducting  prayer  in  a 
very  child-like  and  confiding  spirit,  and  said,  '  Excuse  me' — he 
referred  to  literary  defects — '  Excuse  me,  for  I  can  only  pray  as 
I  have  been  taught  by  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Would  that  all  were 
taught  only  thus  to  pray !  More  abundant  would  be  the  re- 
turn of  prayer  from  heaven. 

"  The  class  of  catechists  consists  of  about  fifteen  persons. 
One  of  them,  a  marked  man  in  his  own  parish,  went  a  fortnight 
ago  to  the  jail  of  Santa  Cruz,  a  town  about  twelve  miles  from 
this,  to  visit  a  friend  who  was  then  imprisoned  for  the  truth's 
sake ;  and,  once  within  the  walls  of  the  jail,  he  himself  was 
detained  a  prisoner,  and  is  to  be  tried  on  a  charge  of  being  a 
heretic  and  a  blasphemer — the  crime  deponed  to  being  that  he 
had  denied  the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Host. 

"  When  I  shall  have  concluded  my  course  of  expositions  in 
the  class,  if  the  Lord  permit  me  to  bring  this  work  to  a  con- 


THE   COMMUNION.  201 

elusion,  I  intend  to  ordain  as  elders  those  members  of  the  class 
who,  being  married  men,  may  seem  to  possess  in  the  highest 
degree  the  qualifications  essential  for  that  sacred  office.  As 
yet  none  of  the  converts  have  been  set  apart  to  the  office  of 
the  eldership, 

"  Meanwhile  the  sacraments  continue  to  be  administered,  and 
the  work  of  preaching  the  gospel  is  not  abandoned.  Last 
Monday  we  had  a  refreshing  communion  in  the  house  of  one 
of  the  British  merchants,  situated  almost  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  city,  and  directly  opposite  to  an  old  grim  building,  once  a 
Jesuits'  college,  but  now  used  as  barracks  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  soldiery.  There  I  preached  and  dispensed  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  thirty-three  communicants,  all  of  them  Portuguese 
except  two  individuals.  The  text  was  Heb.  viii.  10,  11,  12. 
To-day  I  preached  again  to  about  forty  Portuguese  on  the  text 
— '  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.'  Every 
Saturday  forenoon,  if  the  Lord  will,  I  intend  to  have  a  diet  of 
worship,  admitting  about  thirty  persons. 

"  The  interdict  is  still  hanging  over  me.  Pray  for  me,  that 
my  hands  wax  not  feeble,  nor  my  heart  faint. 

"  The  Lord  is  still  carrying  on  His  work  here,  and  that  by 
such  means  as  to  make  it  manifest  that  the  glory  is  all  His 
own.  Except  among  such  as,  though  willing  to  hear  the  Word, 
yet  never  gave  any  proofs  of  conviction,  there  has  been  no  in- 
stance of  decided  relapse  into  Romanism," 

"P.  S.— February  6.— The  vessel  is  still  in  the  Bay,  and 
does  not  set  sail  till  to-morrow.  On  Wednesday  last  we  had 
another  and  a  truly  refreshing  communion — the  most  refresh- 
ing to  myself  that  I  have  ever  had  among  the  Portuguese. 
The  King  sat  that  day  at  His  table,  and  the  spikenard  of  not 
a  few  sent  forth  a  sweet  smell.  Some  washed  the  Lord's  feet 
with  their  tears,  and  anointed  them  with  ointment.  The  room 
was  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  grateful  and  humble-hearted 
Jove.  'Praise  ye  the  Lord,  for  the  Lord  ia  good,  for  his  mercy 
endureth  forever.' " 

9* 


202  MEMOIR  OF  BEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOK. 

Farther  details  are  given  in  other  letters.  We  se- 
lect a  few  fragments  : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Madeira,  February  4 
1846. — I  was  glad  when  Mr.  Nairn  arrived  to  free  me  from 
the  fatigue  and  responsibility  of  ministering  to  the  Presbyterian 
congregation.  The  Portuguese — they  are  my  flock,  and,  by 
the  goodness  of  God,  I  have  been  enabled  to  continue  my 
labors  among  them  till  the  present  hour.  I  intend  to  preach 
regularly,  if  the  Lord  will,  on  Saturday  of  each  week,  begin- 
ning at  eleven  o'clock  forenoon.  Will  you  pray  for  us,  that 
the  Word  of  the  Lord  may  hav«  free  course  and  be  glorified  ? 
I  trust  that  some  of  the  former  converts  are  undergoing  a 
deepening  work,  and  that  there  are  some  even  now  in  the 
throes  of  the  second  birth.  The  people  have  meetings  in  one 
another's  houses  for  reading  Scripture  and  prayer,  which  sim- 
ple means  of  grace  seems  to  be  attended  with  much  blessing. 
The  devouring  Hon  is  still  roaring  amongst  us,  but  he  would 
be  quiet  if  '  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah'  were  not  prevail- 
ing, by  His  mig"hty  power,  to  rescue  souls  from  death." 

"  February  5. — A  short  time  after  writing  the  above.  Dr. 
Kalley  called  to  let  me  know  that  the  bishop  had,  as  is  cur- 
rently said,  made  a  representation  against  me  again  to  the  civil 
magistrate.  Before  you  hear  from  me  again  I  shall  perhaps 
be  in  prison.  You  are  aware  that  imprisonment  and  persecu- 
tion are  unavoidable  if  I  continue  to  minister  in  Madeira.  The 
Lord  give  me  grace  to  endure  !" 

"To  HIS  Mother. — Madeira,  February  6,  184G. — Next 
week,  if  the  Lord  will,  another  communion  will  be  dispensed, 
in  order  to  overtake  the  whole  number  of  communicants.  There 
are  on  the  roll  105  names,  but  a  few  have  left  the  island.  On 
the  second  Sabbath  of  last  month  the  communion  took  place 
in  the  Scotch  church.  I  preached  on  Saturday,  and  again  *on 
Monday — ray  first  subject, '  The  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood,' 


NEW  THREAT  OF  IMPRISONMENT.  203 

and  the  text  of  the  other  discourse,  '  I  sat  under  His  shadow 
with  great  delight,  and  His  fruit  was  sweet  to  my  taste.' 

"  The  imprudence,  if  I  may  use  so  harsh  an  epithet,  of  some 
of  the  poor  people  last  Saturday,  has  again  led  the  enemies  to 
fasten  the  eye  of  observation  on  the  work.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  shift  my  Saturday  meetings  from  place  to  place  for  some 
time  to  come.  To-morrow,  if  spared,  I  shall  preach  in  the 
house  of  an  English  merchant,  who  is  married  to  a  Portuguese, 
now  a  convert.  It  seems  not  possible,  without  some  striking 
interposition  of  the  Lord,  for  me  to  continue  to  labor  long  in 
Madeira.  The  great  object  in  the  meantime  is  to  seek  grace 
that  I  may  be  enabled  to  follow  the  Lord  fully,  doing  His  will. 
The  people  are  hungering  for  the  Word.  Some  of  them  occa- 
sionally say  to  me,  '  When  shall  we  come,  for  we  are  very  hun- 
gry V  '  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness, for  they  shall  be  filled.'  The  Lord  will  not  cease 
from  working  till,  in  spite  of  man's  opposition.  He  have  gath- 
ered in  all  His  elect." 

He  now  urged  upon  tlie  Church  at  home  the  neces- 
sity of  providing  a  native  ministry.  The  proposal  was 
adopted,  and  with  the  happiest  results, 

"  To  THE  Convener  of  the  Colonial  Committee. — Ma- 
deira, February  6,  1846. — There  are  among  the  converts  in 
Madeira  two  young  men  of  considerable  promise,  whom  I 
should  like  exceedingly  to  see  engaged  in  a  course  of  study 
with  a  view  to  ministerial  work  amongst  their  countrymen. 
My  object  in  troubling  you  with  this  note  is,  through  you  to 
request  that  the  Colonial  Committee  will  charge  itself  with  the 
education  of  the  young  men  referred  to.  I  make  this  request 
with  all  earnestness,  trusting  that  the  Lord  himself  will  incline 
the  hearts  of  the  Committee  to  grant  it  a  favorable  entertain- 
ment. You  could  not  confer  a  greater  benefit  on  the  converts 
in  Madeira,  or  do  anything  more  likely  to  be  honored  by  the 


204  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOK 

Lord  as  an  instrument  of  furthering  the  good  work  which  He 
has  begun,  and  is  still,  I  have  good  reason  to  believe,  carrying 
forward  among  this  people.  It  would  not  be  necessary  to  sub- 
ject the  young  men  to  a  course  of  study  of  anything  like  seven 
or  eight  years'  duration.  I  am  sure  that  no  one,  looking  at 
the  manner  in  which  the  apostles  met  and  provided  for  similar 
exigencies  among  their  converts,  woukl  demand  more  than 
such  a  preparatory  course  of  training  as  was  absolutely  essen- 
tial. The  young  men  are,  so  for  as  I  can  judge,  taught  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  their  lives  are  in  unison  with  their  profession 
of  faith.  They  are  both  members  of  my  class  of  catechists. 
Interdicted  already,  and  exposed  at  this  moment,  as  I  believe  I 
am,  to  an  actual  prosecution,  I  do  not  expect  that  my  labors 
wiil  be  of  much  longer  continuance  in  this  place." 

The  three  following  letters  contain  Mr.  Hewitson's 
last  notices  of  the  work.  The  reader  will  sympathize 
with  him  in  his  resolution  to  withdraw  for  a  time  from 
the  scene. 

"  To  THE  Convener  of  the  Colonial  Committee. — Ma- 
deira, February  26,  1846. — Soon  after  writing  the  note  which 
I  last  addressed  to  you,  I  was  informed  that  the  civil  governor 
had,  a  few  days  previously,  charged  Dr.  Coelha,  one  of  the  two 
judges  de  Direlto,  to  proceed  against  me  according  to  law. 
The  latter  decHned,  on  the  ground  of  my  not  being  under  his 
jurisdiction.  He  is  the  only  acting  judge  at  this  moment,  a? 
the  vacancy  created  by  Negrao's  retirement  has  not  yet  been 
supplied.  There  seems  to  be  now,  more  than  ever,  a  determi- 
nation on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  to 
put  down  '  the  heresy,'  as  they  call  it.  The  bishop  lately  left 
the  island  for  Lisbon,  where  he  intends,  as  intimated  by  him 
in  a  recent  pastoral,  to  use  all  possible  means  for  that  end. 

"  Once  or  twice  I  have  preached  in  the  house  of  an  English 
merchant,  but  he  has  been  served  with  an  interdict,  prohibiting 


GROWING  HOSTILITY   OF  THE   PRIESTS.         205 

him  from  permitting  any  meetings  of  Portuguese  for  religious 
purposes  to  take  place  in  his  house  ;  and,  in  consequence,  I 
have  been  obliged  to  abandon  my  intention. 

"  I  have  been  led,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  form  the  res- 
olution of  leaving  Madeira  for  some  months,  and  of  afterwards 
returning  to  resume  my  labors,  if  so  be  that  the  Lord  shall  be 
pleased  to  keep  open  here  a  door  of  usefulness.  This,  I  am 
convinced,  as  is  also  my  friend  Dr.  Kalley,  is  the  most  likely 
expedient  for  securing  to  the  converts  in  this  island  a  somewhat 
longer  continuance  of  what  services  I  am  by  grace  enabled  to 
render  'for  their  furtherance  and  joy  of  faith.'  My  physical 
incapability  of  working,  without  serious  injury  to  my  health, 
under  the  relaxing  influence  of  summer  heat  in  Madeira,  makes 
the  step  which  I  have  resolved  on  taking,  if  the  Lord  will,  all 
the  more  expedient. 

"  Before  leaving  the  island  I  intend  to  finish  the  course  of 
divinity  through  which  I  have  been  taking  my  class  of  cate- 
chists,  and  to  set  apart  some  of  the  members  of  the  class  to  the 
several  offices  of  the  eldership  and  deaconship.  This  work  will 
yet  occupy  at  least  two  months  longer.  During  the  same  in- 
terval I  shall  have  likewise  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  to 
all  the  communicants.  In  the  course  of  three  weeks,  lately, 
eighty-seven  Portuguese  converts  received  the  Supper.  Of 
almost  all  I  may  say  that  they  afford  good  proofs  of  being  born 
again. 

"  Besides  these,  there  are  more  than  one  hundred  who  would 
gladly  be  admitted  for  examination  with  a  view  to  communion. 
Of  these,  I  intend  to  examine  such  as  are  well  reported  of  by 
the  brethren  as  walking  wholly  in  accordance  with  their  pro- 
fession. To-day  I  examined,  and  admitted  on  the  communion- 
roll,  a  man  who  gave  me,  both  of  his  conversion  and  after-ex- 
perience, an  account  most  beautiful  and  affecting.  There  are 
here,  at  this  moment,  hundreds — there  are  thousands — who 
would  gladly  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  if  the  iron 
hoof  of  spiritual  oppression  did  not  keep  them  down.     The 


206  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

work  of  the  Lord  is  prospering. — I  am,  Rev.  dear  Sir,  yours 
truly  in  the  Lord,  W.  Hewitson." 

"  To  THE  Secretary  of  the  Colonial  Committee. — Ma- 
deira^ 26ih  February/,  1846, —  .  .  .Whether  I  may  be  allowed 
to  prosecute  my  labors  for  the  space  of  two  or  three  months  to 
come,  even  in  the  most  secret  manner  possible,  is  at  this  mo- 
ment extremely  doubtful.  The  circulation  of  the  report,  that  I 
am  intending  to  leave  the  island,  will  probably  induce  the  au- 
thorities to  connive  a  little  longer.  There  is  no  doubt  they 
have  connived  already,  in  the  expectation  that  I  would  be  led 
by  the  threat  of  a  prosecution  to  abandon  my  work,  and  leave 
the  island. 

"  I  have  too  good  ground  for  apprehending  that  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Lord's  people  will  ere  long  wax  hotter.  The  ad- 
versary is  enraged,  for  hitherto  all  his  efforts  put  forth  against 
the  truth  have  been  frustrated.  The  Lord  has  still  vouchsafed 
to  keep  His  arm  stretched  out  for  the  deliverance  of  His  elect. 
He  has  said,  with  more  than  the  emphasis  of  words,  *  I  will 
work,  and  who  shall  let  it  ?'  So  far  as  I  can  judge,  there  never 
was  a  time  when  the  work  of  the  Lord  here  was  in  a  more 
prosperous  condition  than  at  the  present  hour." 

"To  HIS  Father. — Madeira,  February  27,  1846. — Yester- 
day I  examined  and  admitted  on  the  roll  of  church-members  a 
man  who  gave  me  a  very  interesting  account  of  his  experience. 
He  told  me  that  he  found  the  best  means  of  overcoming  the 
corruption  of  his  heart  was  to  have  immediate  recourse,  when- 
ever he  felt  the  uprising  of  sinful  thoughts  within,  to  prayer  or 
praise.  *  Sometimes,'  he  said,  '  I  lift  up  my  heart  to  the  Lord 
in  prayer,  and  at  other  times  I  break  forth  into  singing  praise 
to  God  ;  and  always,  by  this  means,  get  rid  of  the  evil  thoughts 
that  trouble  me,  and  have  my  heart  filled  with  joy.' " 

"  P.  S. — March  6, — A  few  minutes  ago  I  have  heard  of  a 
wicked  man's  conversion.  His  wife  called  to  ask  me  to  visit 
the  house." 


CLASS  OF  STUDENTS.  207 

The  class  of  "students,"  wliicli  had  engaged  so  large 
a  share  of  his  attention  that  winter,  was  a  happy  expe- 
dient for  the  future  prosperity  of  the  work  among  the 
people.  We  find  Dr.  Kalley  thus  referring  to  it,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Convener  of  the  Committee,  of  date  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1846 : — 

"  Mr.  Hewitson  has  been  giving  a  systematic  course  of  theo- 
logical instruction  to  a  class  of  Christian  men  two  days  in  the 
week.  I  am  confident  that  his  work  will  produce  glorious  re- 
sults." 

And  an  English  resident,  who  was  often  present, 
describes  it  more  in  detail  :- 

"  He  first  went  through  all  the  great  doctrines  of  our  faith, 
such  as  justification,  the  offices  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  &c.  ;  then 
the  types  of  Christ  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  ended  with  a 
general  view  of  prophecy.  The  subjects  were  treated  so  simply, 
yet  so  fully,  and  Mr.  Hewitson's  views  on  all  subjects  were  so 
deeply  spiritual,  that  it  was  indeed  a  privilege  to  be  admitted 
as  a  listener. 

"  Two  women  were  also  present,"  continues  the  same  eye*- 
witness — "  Antonia  Correa  and  her  daughter.  The  former  was 
among  the  most  intelligent  and  advanced  Christians  of  the 
little  community  ;  and  so  influential  had  she  been  in  bringing 
her  friends  and  neighbors  within  reach  of  the  truth,  and  in 
helping  them  on,  that  it  was  said  of  her  by  the  enemies,  that 
she  had  an  enchanted  cup,  of  which  if  any  drank,  they  cer- 
tainly became  '  Calvinistas.' ,  As  she  had  thus  many  oppor- 
tunities of  instructing  others,  she  came,  with  her  husband,  who 
was  a  small  proprietor  and  vine-dresser,  and  who  was  after- 
wards made  an  elder.  During  the  scenes  of  the  following 
August,  their  conduct  was  in  beautiful  harmony  with  their 
profession.     They  were  driven  from  their  homes,  and  found  a 


208  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON". 

refuge  on  board  the  ship  which  took  them  to  Trinidad,  leaving 
joyfully  all  they  had  to  follow  their  Lord. 

"  The  class  was  continued  till  the  month  of  April ;  and,  after 
a  careful  examination,  Mr.  Hewitson  proceeded  to  ordain  six 
elders  and  several  deacons,  to  conduct  the  meetings  and  regu- 
late the  business  of  the  little  church  during  his  approaching 
absence." 

Mr.  Hewitson  left  Madeira  in  tlie  beginning  of  May, 
1846,  intending,  after  an  interval  of  a  few  months,  to 
return  to  his  beloved  flock.  But  the  persecution,  so 
long  restrained,  was  now  to  burst  forth  in  awful  fury. 

On  the  morning  of  Sabbath,  the  2d  August,  there 
assembled  in  the  house  of  an  English  family  betwixt 
thirty  and  forty  of  the  converts,  to  listen  to  a  Pastoral 
Letter  from  Mr,  Hewitson,  in  addition  to  their  ordinary 
exercises  of  prayer  and  praise  and  reading  of  the 
Word.  Meanwhile  a  ruffian  rabble  had  been  mustered 
by  one  of  the  canons  of  the  cathedral  church.  As  the 
little  congregation  was  about  to  retire,  the  rabble  had 
arrived  at  the  gate,  headed  by  the  canon  in  full  canon- 
icals, and  shouting  defiance  and  revenge.  The  first  to 
leave  the  house  was  Senhor  Arsenio  da  Silva,  the 
elder  who  had  been  conducting  the  worship.  The  in- 
stant he  appeared,  the  canon  thrust  in  his  face  an 
image,  bidding  him  "kiss  it,"  and  "adore  his  god!" 
Heaping  on  him  all  manner  of  abusive  epithets,  he 
knocked  ofi"  his  hat,  as  a  means  of  inciting  the  mob  to 
personal  violence.  With  great  difficulty  Arsenio  es- 
caped, along  with  three  or  four  others  who  had  come 
out  behind  him. 


OUTEAGES,  209 

Till  eleven  at  night  the  lionse  was  besieged  by  the 
mob,  at  the  instigation  of  the  canon  and  several  other 
priests  who  were  present,  and  under  the  connivance 
of  the  civil  authorities. 

"  At  last,  towards  midnight" — we  quote  the  words  of  a  British 
naval  officer,*  who  witnessed  the  scene — "  the  smashing  of  the 
windows,  and  crash  of  the  bludgeons  on  the  door,  announced 
that  the  money  and  liquor  of  the  enemy  were  fearfully  doing 
their  work.  Amidst  the  yells  of  the  mob,  the  cry  was  still 
heard  for  admittance  ;  when  Miss  Rutherfurd,  addressing  them 
in  that  calm,  gentle,  temperate,  yet  firm  and  dignified  manner 
which  distinguished  her  conduct  through  the  night,  begged 
them  to  withdraw,  urging  the  danger  they  were  incurring  by 
so  acting  in  violation  of  the  law.  '  Nao  ha  leis  pelos  Calvin- 
istas'  {there  are  no  laws  for  Calvinists)  was  the  instant  reply 
— showing  that  the  impression  produced  by  the  long  preceding 
course  of  authorized  persecution  was,  that  Christians  were  out- 
lawed by  the  fact  of  being  readers  of  the  "Word  of  God — with 
a  further  threat,  that  if  the  doors  were  not  immediately  opened, 
they  would  burn  the  house  to  the  ground  !  Another  smash 
of  windows  followed.  As  each  blow  fell  upon  the  windows 
and  door,  and  resounded  through  the  house,  a  shudder  passed 
over  the  invalid's  weakly  frame.  Meanwhile,  Miss  Rutherfurd, 
and  Clarke,  her  English  maid,  were  exerting  themselves  to  con- 
ceal the  poor  Christians  from  the  anticipated  murderous  attack. 
They  consisted  almost  exclusively  of  women — of  harmless,  quiet, 
inoffensive  females  !  But  they  were  Protestants — they  had  not 
been  to  mass,  nor  had  they  lately  paid  the  fees  of  confession. 
And  so  their  sex  was  no  protection  from  the  bludgeon  of  the 
ruffian !  They  were  marked  out  by  the  priesthood  for  ven- 
geance, and  the  end  was  to  justify  the  means.  For  their 
greater  security  they  were  hurried  into  the  kitchen,  at  the  re- 
mote end  of  the  house — that  being  the  apartment  likely  to  be 

*  Persecution  in  Madeira  in  1846.     By  J.  Roddam  Tate,  R.N" 


210  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

last  reached  by  the  assailants,  and  fi'om  which  there  was  a  stair- 
door  down  to  the  garden.  The  seats  were  then  removed  from 
the  room  in  which  the  meeting  had  been  held.  Bibles  and 
bonnets  were  put  out  of  the  way,  so  that  no  additional  cause 
for  excitement  might  inflame  the  rabble  as  they  entered.  Still 
crash  succeeded  crash,  and  blow  succeeded  blow  ! 

"  What  a  contrast,  thought  I,  between  those  without  and 
those  within  the  house !  Here  was  peace  and  confidence  ; 
there  violence  and  hatred.  Here  was  the  voice  of  Him  who 
is  LOVE  itself,  and  who  had  permitted  the  storm  to  rise,  whis- 
pering into  each  one's  ear,  *  It  is  I ;  he  not  afraid  ;  my  grace 
is  sufficient  for  thee  ;'  there  was  the  voice  of  Satan  urging  on 
his  slaves  to  deeds  of  darkness  and  of  blood.  Here,  in  a  word, 
was  Christ  ;  there  was  Antichrist.  Here  the  seed  of  the 
women  ;  there  the  seed  of  the  serpent.  Alas,  how  true !  it  was 
not  against  their  countrymen  as  men  that  their  hatred,  their 
rage,  their  violence  had  been  raised,  for  many  of  those  had 
come  from  the  country,  and  were  personally  unknown.  It  was 
not  against  them,  but  against  *  Christ  in  them.'  It  was  Jesus 
whom  they  persecuted. 

"  After  a  few  more  crushing  blows,  the  door  of  the  house 
flew  open.  Still  none  dared  enter.  Soon  after  midnight,  just 
as  arrangements  were  completed  above,  lights  were  distinguished 
on  the  staircase,  and  almost  immediately  they  entered  the 
drawing-room.  09"  this  room  was  the  invalid's  chamber,  and 
thither  the  rioters  directed  their  course.  Six  or  eight  of  the 
ruffians,  preceded  by  boys  carrying  lights,  flashing  in  their  faces, 
daringly  entered  the  room  and  demanded  the  Portuguese — 
placing,  by  this  act  of  reckless  cruelty,  the  life  of  a  defenceless 
invalid  lady,  guiltless  of  crime,  in. the  most  imminent  danger. 
They  were  informed  that  the  Portuguese  were  not  there,  and 
would  not  be  given  up  ;  and  they  were  desired,  moreover,  not 
to  come  farther  into  the  sick  lady's  room.  They  whispered  to- 
gether for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  went  grumbhng  and  mut- 
tering away. 


OUTRAGES.  211 

"  A  guard  being  left  in  the  drawing-room,  they  proceeded  in 
search  of  their  victims — a  rather  tedious  process  by  the  way, 
in  a  house  with  twenty  bed-rooms  and  six  sitting-rooms,  besides 
a  chapel,  and  closets  of  all  kinds.  At  length  we  heard  the  yell 
of  triumph.  The  victims  had  been  found.  Resistance  was  not 
thought  of,  but  they  were  all  on  their  knees  in  prayer  to  God. 
One  was  seized — his  head  laid  open  to  the  bone,  and  himself 
thrown  over  the  banisters  to  the  ground.  Here  the  mob  were 
beating  him  with  clubs,  and  dragging  him  out  to  be  murdered 
in  the  garden,  '  for  it  is  a  less  crime,'  said  they,  to  '  kill  him 
there.'  At  the  very  moment  of  opening  the  door  by  which 
to  drag  out  their  intended  victim,  the  police  and  soldiers  en- 
tered, thus  catching  them  in  the  very  act  of  outrage,  and  in- 
tended murder,  in  a  British  subject's  house.  The  mob  were 
asked  by  what  authority  they  had  entered  that  house,  to  which 
they  replied,  that  '  they  did  not  care  for  authority  or  law.' 
Two  of  the  ruflSans  were  then  secured,  marched  off,  and  lodged 
in  jail." 

But  tlie  catastrophe  was  only  beginning.  About 
two  in  the  morning  of  Sabbatli  the  9th.  of  August,  as 
Dr.  Kalley  was  escorting  to  his  outer  gate  a  friend  who 
had  been  concerting  with  him  measures  of  self-defence, 
he  overheard  the  guard  of  soldiers,  which  had  been 
sent  at  his  urgent  command  to  protect  him,  in  familiar 
conversation  with  men  disguised  in  masks,  one  of 
whom  was  sharpening  a  large  knife  on  the  door-lintel, 
preparatory  to  "the  killing  on  the  morrow."  Dr. 
Kalley,  finding  that  even  the  guard  was  treacherously 
abetting  the  enormities  contemplated,  at  once  deter- 
mined to  provide  for  his  safety  by  flight.  Disguising 
himself  as  a  country  peasant,  he  hastened  to  the  house 
of  a  friend,  unobserved  by  the  ruffians,  who,  at  the 


212  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

beck  of  tlie  priests,  were  already  repairing  in  all  di- 
rections to  the  devoted  dwelling. 

It  was  now  near  midday.  The  services  in  honor  of 
"  our  lady  of  the  mount"  had  been  concluded.  In  the 
streets  were  seen  groups  of  excited  worshippers,  talk- 
ing with  evident  delight  of  the  intended  work  of  the 
day.  At  last  a  rocket  rose  hissing  into  the  air.  It 
was  the  signal  for  proceeding.  "  Those  who  are,  in 
that  house,"  said  one  of  the  people  in  the  hearing  of 
Mrs.  Kalley,  as  she  was  escaping  in  disguise  through 
the  street,  "  would  need,  to-day,  to  be  sure  of  salva- 
tion." At  length  a  dense  mass  surrounded  the  house. 
The  door  was  forced.  The  ringleaders  rushed  into 
the  apartments,  the  mob  watching  till  their  benefactor 
should  be  dragged  forth. 

Chagrined  to  find  that  he  had  escaped,  they  commit- 
ted his  library  and  papers  to  the  flames,  and  hastened 
away  in  search  of  himself  By  this  time,  Dr.  Kalley, 
disguised  in  female  attire,  and  concealed  in  a  ham- 
mock, was  escaping  for  his  life  to  the  Bay.  As  the 
bearers,  attended  by  Mr.  Tate,  were  hurried  reluctantly 
along,  the  cry  was  raised — "  Kalley !  Kalley  !"  The 
infuriated  mob  catching  the  cry,  and  raising  three 
cheers,  ran  towards  the  pier.  As  they  reached  it,  the 
hammock  had  just  been  lowered  into  the  boat — the 
boat  put  off — ^in  a  few  minutes  it  was  alongside  the 
steamer  in  the  Bay — the  hammock  was  swung  on 
deck — Dr.  Kalley  was  safe. 

"  I  turned  round,"  says  Mr.  Tate,  "  and  the  whole 


SUFrERINGS  OF  CONVERTS.  213 

beacli  teemed  with  living  beings.  What  a  change  had 
a  moment  produced,  in  our  condition  and  in  theirs ! 
But  a  moment  earlier,  and  we  had  surely  been  sacri- 
ficed to  the  fury  of  the  mob.  We  were  now  out  of 
danger — we  were  beyond  the  murderers'  grasp  !" 

The  converts  were  now  to  enter  the  seven-times 
heated  furnace.  Shall  they  stand  this  fiery  trial? 
We  quote  another  eye-witness : — 

"  Rev.  C.  Nairn  to  Convener  of  Colonial  Committee. — 
Madeira,  August  18,  1846. — The  removal  of  Dr.  Kalley  was 
to  them  the  signal  to  expect  all  manner  of  cruelty  and  op- 
pression. Many  of  them  immediately  fled  from  their  houses 
to  the  mountains,  where  they  have  been  savagely  hunted  by 
their  relentless  persecutors.  It  is  truly  heart-rending  to  hear 
of  their  sufferings.  When  discovered  in  their  hiding-places 
they  were  mercilessly  beaten,  to  extort  from  them  a  promise 
that  they  will  go  to  confession.  A  few  days  ago  a  man  was 
most  brutally  murdered,  and  several  women  have  sustained 
injuries  from  which  they  are  not  expected  to  recover.  I  am 
glad  to  learn  that  nearly  an  hundred  are  now  on  board  of  an 
emigrant  ship,  with  the  prospect  of  being  soon  removed  to 
some  other  land,  where  they  may  find  rest  from  the  fury  of 
their  oppressors.  There  has  been  manifested  by  many  of  these 
humble  disciples  a  spirit  of  devoted  attachment  to  the  truth, 
of  simple,  steadfast  faith  in  Jesus,  and  of  patience  in  the  midst 
of  great  tribulation,  that  must  commend  them  to  the  sympathy, 
and  secure  for  them  the  prayers,  oi'  the  people  of  God." 

During  the  few  following  weeks  a  noble  testimony 
for  Christ  was  borne  by  these  afflicted  people.  The 
scene  is  described  by  an  English  resident,  who,  along 
with  twelve  other  English,  had  been  obliged  to  take 


2i-±  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

refuge  on  board  a  ship  in  tlie  Bay,  on  Monday  the 
10th  August.     The  letter  is  to  Mr,  Hewitson  : — 

"  On  hoard  the  '  William^  Funclml  Bay,  August  18, 1846. — 
This  ship  is  to  take  away  two  hundred  of  your  flock  to  Trini- 
dad. Seventy  are  already  on  board.  The  sound  of  the 
hymns  is  very  sweet  as  it  rises  from  the  hold.  It  is  a  great 
privilege  to  be  near  them  in  this  time  of  need,  and  to  see  that 
their  faith  does  not  fail.  They  never  speak  against  their  per- 
secutors— they  only  mention  them  with  pity.  Sometimes  I 
overhear  them  in  prayer,  praying  for  their  enemies,  and  for 
those  who  have  turned  back  again  to  the  Casas  d' Idolatria. 
They  have  all  been  in  hidings  on  the  mountains — their  houses 
broken  up  and  pillaged ;  and  many  of  them  have  nothing  left 
but  the  clothes  they  wear. 

"  The  soldier's  mother  was  taken  out  of  her  house  on  Sunday 
morning  the  9th — beaten  till  she  was  seemingly  dead — then 
dragged  down,  and  thrown  upon  the  graves  of  the  Protestants 
buried  on  the  road  at  Santa  Luzia.  She  revived  again,  and 
was  carried  by  police  to  the  hospital.  After  dressing  her  arm 
which  was  broken,  they  ordered  her  to  '  confess.'  On  her  re- 
fusal, she  was  taken  to  the  police  station,  where  she  remained 
all  day  in  a  hammock.  Next  day  she  was  taken  to  the  hos- 
pital ;  but,  refusing  to  conform  to  the  Church,  is  kept  in  the 
hammock  instead  of  a  bed.  Alas  !  now  the  door  in  Madeira 
seems  closed  indeed — your  flock  scattered  in  other  lands." 

These  two  hundred  sailed  on  22d  August  for  Trin- 
idad. Soon  after,  three  hundred  and  fifty  followed. 
Ultimately,  the  number  of  the  exiles,  sent  to  Trinidad, 
and  to  the  other  West  India  islands,  rose  to  about 
eight  hundred. 

A  goodly  "cloud  of  witnesses!"  Ye  persecuted, 
but  not  forsaken !  ye  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed ! 


EXILE.  215 

•cast  not  away  your  confidence,  wliich.  hatli  great  rec- 
ompense of  reward.  Meanwhile,  be  ye  not  high- 
minded,  but  fear.  What  have  ye,  which  ye  have  not 
received  ? 

Longing  after  them,  for  the  exceeding  grace  of  God 
in  them,  and  all  the  more  because  of  their  abounding 
afflictions,  the  self-denying  pastor  shall  yet  be  met  by 
us  on  the  scene  of  their  exile,  comforting  his  scattered 
flock. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1845,  1846. 

Ministry  in  Madeira — Source  of  its  Power — Notes  of  Conversation—* 
Daily  Walk — Preaching  of  Christ — Pastoral  letter — Notes  by  Dr. 
Kalley — Review  of  the  Work. 

"  Mr.  Hewitson,"  wrote  Dr.  Kalley  on  the  5tli 
February,  1846,  "  has  been  a  source  of  incalculable 
good  to  Madeira.  I  feel  myself  to  be  very  mucli  a 
hewer  of  wood  or  drawer  of  water."  It  must  have 
been  no  ordinary  minister  which  Dr.  Kalley  thus 
characterized.  The  very  gleanings  of  the  vintage 
give  evidence  of  this.  A  recent  visitor  to  the  island 
found  not  a  few  secret  disciples,  who  trace  their  awa- 
kening to  Mr.  Hewitson,  speaking  of  him  as  their  spir- 
itual father. 

In  recording  the  labors  of  Brainerd  among  the  In- 
dians, President  Edwards  asks,  "  Is  there  not  much  to 
teach  and  excite  to  duty  us  who  are  called  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  and  all  who  are  candidates  for  that 
great  work?"  A  lesson  not  less  instructive  is  before 
us  here. 

Some  extracts  from  the  diary  of  an  English  resident, 


NOTES   OF   CONVEKSATION.  217 

who  enjoyed  Mr.  Hewitson's  almost  daily  private  min- 
istrations during  that  period,  will  indicate  how  he 
spoke  and  walked : — 

'■'•  Madeira^  Saturday,  April  12,  1845. — I  had  a  visit  this 
afternoon  from  Mr.  Hewitson — the  first  time  I  have  seen  him. 
His  whole  convei-sation  and  manner  made  me  feel  that  he  was 
one  who  '  walked  with  God.'  His  spirit  dwells  above  the  at- 
mosphere of  this  world,  and  he  gets  many  a  '  near  glimpse  into 
the  heart  of  Jesus,'  upon  whose  loveliness  and  love  he  delights 
to  dwell. 

"He  read  the  Yth  of  Hebrews,  19  to  the  end.  Speaking 
upon  verse  26,  he  particularly  dwelt  upon  the  word  *  harmless,' 
&c.  Yes,  He  was  harmless — Jesus  could  harm  none.  He  was 
full  of  compassion.  See  Him  coming  down  from  the  Mount 
of  Beatitudes,  stretching  out  His  hand  to  the  poor  leper — one 
who  was  shunned  by  all,  even  by  the  mother  that  bare  him. 
He  who,  of  all  that  great  multitude,  was  alone  '  holy,  harmless, 
and  undefiled,'  without  sin,  was  the  only  one  of  all  to  stretch 
out  his  hand  and  touch  that  polluted  one  ;  and  by  that  touch 
He  healed  the  loathsome  disease." 

"  Tuesday,  October  V. — Speaking  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  he 
said.  We  can  imagine  a  mother,  the  tenderest  of  all  earthly  rel- 
atives, about  to  die,  and  leave  her  little  helpless  orphan  chil- 
dren without  any  one  in  the  world  to  care  for  them.  What  a 
pleading  for  them  would  there  be  in  her  last  parting  prayer ! 
But  could  she  frame  one  more  tender,  more  affecting  than  this  ? 
— '  And  now  I  am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  these  are  in  the 
world,  and  I  come  to  thee  :  Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine 
own  name  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me.'  His  is  a  tenderer, 
deeper,  and  far  intenser  love  for  those  he  left  behind,  than  even 
that  of  the  tenderest  of  mothers  !" 

"  October  31. — Mr.  H.  spoke  of '  grace  reigning,'  of  self  mix- 
ing in  everything  we  do,  even  in  our  holy  things — that  in  our 
eanctification  we  must  look  to  Christ  alone — every  day,  every 
10 


21y  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W.    II.    IIE>TITS0:!7. 

hour,  contiinially.  Romembering  and  acting  upon  this, '  we  are 
complete  in  Him.' 

"  He  also  spoke  of  Phil.  iii.  8,  '  For  whom  I  have  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  things  ;'  i.  e.,  Paul  means  he  must  give  up,  and 
has  given  up,  all  his  own  righteousness  upon  which  he  once 
rested — his  circumcision  on  the  eighth  day — his  blamelessness 
concerning  the  law,  &c. ;  all  these  things,  which  once  were  to 
him  '  gain,'  he  now  casts  away  as  nothing — as  dung — so  that 
he  may  win  Christ.  The  giving  up  of  all  things — of  all  earthly 
possessions — of  father,  mother,  sister,  brother — is  easy,  com- 
pared with  giving  up  all  our  fancied  righteousness — our  own 
works.  This  is  the  iast  and  most  difficult  thing  that  the  Chris- 
tian has  to  do.  We  often  fancy,  and  even  say  with  our  tongue, 
'  None  but  Christ !  I  place  my  whole  dependence  upon  Christ ; 
I  know  I  am  nothing,  can  do  nothing — He  is  my  complete  Sa- 
viour ;'  and  yet  all  the  time  we  are  trusting  to,  and  looking 
for,  something  in  ourselves.  There  is  nothing  so  insidious  as 
self-righteousness — unbelief.  What  is  it  but  this  that  prevents 
our  continued,  uninterrupted  peace  and  joy  ?  for,  if  we  simply 
believed  Christ's  own  word — simply  and  singly  took  hold  of 
His  righteousness  as  ours,  and  His  finished  work  as  our  own — 
how  could  we  help  having  peace,  feeling  that  all  is  ours,  be- 
cause Christ  is  ours  ?  I  am  quite  sure  he  is  not  a  Christian 
who  has  not  found  this  the  most  difficult  of  all — to  break  away 
from  self — to  live  on  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone.  This 
it  is  alone  which  causes  the  believer  so  often  '  to  walk  in  dark- 
ness,' instead  of  '  rejoicing  in  the  Lord  always.'  John  says, 
'  He  that  believeth  not,  hath  made  God  a  liar,'  <tc.,  '  for  this 
is  the  record,  God  hath  given  vo  us  eternal  life.*  Now,  if  we 
really  believe  this  record,  we  must  rejoice — we  must  have 
peace." 

"  Thursday/,  November  6. — To-day  Mr,  Hewitson  read  some 
verses  of  Psalm  liv.  He  came  in  full  of  the  Spirit.  When 
speaking  upon  verse  3,  '  Strangers  are  risen  up  against  me, 
and  oppressors  seek  after  my  soul,'  he  said — To  the  children 


NOTES  OF  CONVERSATION.  219 

of  God  the  children  of  the  world  must  ever  be  strangere — they 
can  have  nothing  in  common — *  they  hate  them,'  and  '  rise  up 
against  them'  to  destroy  them,  Satan  pursues  from  without ; 
and,  oh,  he  knows  how  to  oppress,  if  he  is  not  able  to  destroy, 
the  soul  of  a  child  of  God  !  He  rouses  up  the  '  old  man'  with- 
in ;  and  how  insidiously  he  causes  the  soul  to  doubt  and  dis- 
trust its  God  !  how  he  tempts  it  to  look  away  from  Jesus — to 
burden  and  overwhelm  it  with  a  view  of  its  own  sinfulness 
apart  from  Christ,  and  thus  to  darken  its  spiritual  hght !  As 
David,  when  feeding  his  sheep  on  the  green  pastures  of  Beth- 
lehem, overcame  both  the  lion  and  the  bear  which  were  carry- 
ing off  the  lambs  of  his  flock,  so  will  our  David  pursue,  and 
overcome,  and  bring  back  the  weakest  lamb  of  all  His  fold. 
It  is  an  easy  thing  for  the  lion  and  the  bear  to  carry  us  from 
the  fold,  but  it  is  also  an  easy  thing  for  Jesus  to  follow  and 
overcome — our  Shepherd  has  said,  '  None  shall  pluck  out  of 
my  hand.'  " 

"  Saturday,  November  8. — Mr.  Hewitson  spoke  of  the  Spirit's 
work — on  the  nature  of  justification  and  ssanctification.  Jesus 
is  our  complete  salvation.  He  does  not  justify,  and  then  leave 
us  to  work  out  our  own  sanctification.  He  gives  all,  and  freely, 
Jesus  bought  all  for  us.  Jesus  wrought  out  all  in  the  twelve 
hours  of  His  long  toilsome  day — ^by  His  own  meritorious 
works ;  and  this  is  His  reward,  that  we  receive  all  freely,  as 
His  gift.  It  is  our  little  knowledge  of  Jesus  that  makes  us  so 
slow  to  believe.  The  more  we  know  Jesus,  the  more  simply 
and  believingly  will  we  accept  of  His  free  gift." 

^'■December  28. — Mr.  Hewitson  read  Matt.  xiv.  23-32. 
When  the  disciples  were  being  tossed  on  the  sea,  though  Jesus 
was  not  present  with  them — not  manifestly  present — ^yet  He 
was  not  forgetting  them — He  was  on  the  mountain-top  praying 
for  them.  So,  when  we  are  not  enjoying  the  manifested  pres- 
ence of  Jesus,  Jesus,  though  out  of  sight,  is  not  far  off — He  is 
only  on  the  mountain-top  praying  for  us.  The  '  ship'  may  be 
tossed  amid  the  waves — the  rough  and  stormy  blasts  of  a  '  con- 


220  MEMOIR  OF  KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

trary  ■wind'  may  be  blowing  bard  against  it — the  contrary 
winds  of  temptation  and  inward  corruption — tbe  nigbt  may  be 
dark,  to  add  to  tbe  danger ;  yet  we  need  not  fear,  for  Jesus  is 
not  far  oflf — He  is  tbinking  upon  us — He  is  on  tbe  mountain, 
praying. 

"  Verse  25,  '  And  in  tbe  fourtb  watcb,'  &c. ;  tbat  is,  at  tbe 
dawn.  Tbe  fourtb  watcb  will  soon  be  bere ;  tbe  dawn  will 
soon  appear  over  our  stormy  sea,  and  we  sball  see  *  Jesus  walk- 
ing' towards  us  in  tbe  midst  of  tbe  waves — we  sball  bear  Him 
saying,  '  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid.'  Wben  Peter  saw  bis  Master, 
be  called  out,  '  Lord,  if  it  be  tbou,  bid  me  come  unto  tbee  on 
tbe  water ;  and  Jesus  said.  Come.'  Peter,  wben  be  saw  bis 
Lord,  could  not  wait  patiently  in  tbe  sbip  till  He  sbould  come 
— be  must  go  and  meet  Jesus.  Jesus  loves  tbis  impatience. 
He  does  not  rebuke  Peter,  He  bids  bim  come.  Jesus  loves  to 
see  us  longing  for  and  desiring  His  presence.  He  loves  to  see 
in  us  a  boly  impatience  for  His  coming.  He  bids  us  come  to 
Him. 

"  '  Wben  tbey  were  come  into  tbe  sbip,  tbe  wind  ceased.' 
How  blessed  is  it  wben  Jesus  comes  into  the  sbip  !  Tben 
tbere  is  a  sweet  calm.  Wben  He  comes  into  tbe  sbip — into 
tbe  beart  tbat  has  been  tossed  amid  tbe  waves  and  billows  of 
corruption  and  temptation — wben  tbe  winds  bave  been  '  con- 
trary,' blowing  in  strong  gales — tbe  nigbt  bas  been  dark,  and 
Jesus  far  away — bow  blessed,  wben  tbe  day  begins  to  break, 
to  see  Jesus  walking  amid  tbe  storm-tossed  sea,  and  at  last  en- 
ter into  tbe  sbip  !  How  sweet  is  tbe  peace,  bow  great  is  tbe 
calm,  tbat  immediately  overspreads  tbe  soul !" 

"  January  2,  1846. — Tbe  good  Sbepberd  often  leads  His 
people  by  a  rougb  and  rugged  way ;  but  it  is  tbe  rigbt  way. 
It  is  a  straight  and  narrow  way,  and  He  hedges  it  up  with 
thorns  ;  for  He  knows  His  sheep  would  be  ever  wandering. 

"  Wben  God's  children  ask  for  sweet.  He  sometimes  gives 
them  bitter  ;  but  it  is  because  He  knows  what  they  require. 

*'  Predestination  is  one  of  tbe  strongest  bulwarks  of  tbe 


SPIRIT  OF  HIS  MINISTRATION'S.  221 

believer's  faith.  It  is  a  most  comforting  assurance  to  know, 
that  every  step  of  our  way,  every  circumstance  in  our  life, 
however  minute,  has  been  all  ordered  and  arranged  for  us  by 
God." 

"  Friday^  January  30. — '  I  will  write  my  law  in  their 
hearts.'  If  we  are  children  of  God,  the  Spirit  has  written  His 
law  on  our  hearts.  Satan  may  at  times  appear  to  have  taken 
possession  of  the  heart,  to  have  set  up  his  throne  in  it,  and  to 
keep,  like  Belshazzar,  a  feast  there  ;  but,  like  Belshazzar  too, 
in  the  midst  of  the  feast,  he  descries  a  handwriting  on  the  wall 
of  that  heart,  which  causes  him  to  tremble." 

"  Tuesday,  March,  10. — Last  night  Mr.  H.  remarked — 
Nothing  makes  this  world  such  a  wilderness  as  desire  after 
holiness.  Like  the  Lord  Jesus,  we  must  often  feel  weary  and 
thirsty — it  is  pre-eminently  the  '  Valley  of  Baca  ;'  but  the  rain 
also  filleth  the  pools.  Sometimes  one  pool,  then  another,  is 
dried  up  ;  but  it  is  a  journey  we  are  on,  and  as  we  move  our 
tents,  step  by  step,  we  shall  meet  with  another  and  another 
pool,  filled  with  the  rain  and  dews  from  heaven." 

These  extracts  give  some  idea  of  Mr.  Hewitson's 
holy  walk  at  that  period.  He  was  the  Christian  on 
every  scene.  His  conversation  was  "alway  with 
grace,  seasoned  with  salt."  Brainerd  nsed  to  say,  that 
he  met  with  many  who  talked  about  religion,  but  few 
who  talked  religion  itself.  It  was  Christ  that  Mr. 
Hewitson  carried  with  him  everywhere.  All  who  saw 
him  felt  that  his  Christianity  was  not  a  cold  abstrac- 
tion, but  a  living  fellowship  with  a  hving  Lord. 

The  same  feature  characterized  all  his  ministrations 
to  the  Portuguese.  The  power  of  his  ministry  among 
them  lay  in  the  simplicity  and  fulness  and  unction 


222  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOX. 

wherewith  he  preached  Christ.  A  teaching  illustra- 
tion of  this  occurs  in  the  Pastoral  Letter  referred  to  in 
the  iDreceding  chapter.  That  letter  may  be  regarded 
as  a  summary  of  his  preaching  when  he  spoke  to 
them  face  to  face.  It  has  an  additional  interest,  as 
being  the  last  message  delivered  to  the  little  church 
in  the  land  of  their  fathers.  Did  not  the  gracious 
Lord  Himself  send  it,  to  stimulate  their  faith  and  pa- 
tience under  the  calamities  then  impending  ? 

"  Grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  from  our  Father  and  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  be  greatly  multiplied  to  you.  I  remember  you 
every  day  in  my  prayers  before  God,  giving  thanks  to  Him 
•who  called  you  out  of  darkness  to  His  marvellous  light. 

"It  is  true  that  formerly  you  were  children  of  darkness, 
dragged  along  to  eternal  perdition  by  the  prince  of  darkness, 
but  now  ye  are  children  of  light,  being  born  of  the  Spirit  by 
the  Word  of  the  living  God.  Walk  in  a  way  worthy  of  the 
Father  of  lights,  who  shone  into  your  hearts  to  enlighten  you 
into  the  knowledge  of  His  divine  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Walk  constantly,  very  dear  brethren,  after  our  beloved 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  for  He  assures  you,  in  the  Gospel  of  John, 
viii.  12,  'I  am  the  light  of  the  world;  he  that  foUoweth  me 
shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life.' 

"  It  is  evident,  then,  that  we  cannot  walk  in  the  saving  light 
which  brings  us  eternal  life  without  continuing  to  walk  after 
Christ.  Light,  life,  salvation,  the  hope  of  glory,  all  spiritual 
and  eternal  blessings,  are  found  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord; 
neither  can  they  be  found  anywhere  else.  Christ  is  the  store- 
house of  all  the  heavenly  goods — Christ  is  the  treasure  of  all 
the  riches  of  Divine  goodness — Christ  is  the  fountain  from 
which  rivers  of  living  waters  are  always  flowing — Christ  is  the 
sea,  without  either  bottom  or  shore,  which  makes  all  the  waves 
of  grace,  mercy,  and  love,  pass  on  the  believing  soul-^Christ  is 


I 


PASTORAL   LETTER.  223 

tte  Sun  of  the  highest  heavens,  which  scatters  and  throws  all 
the  rays  of  Divine  wisdom  and  knowledge  both  among  the 
angels  above  and  the  believers  below.  "Whatever  blessing 
you  need,  seek  from  Christ  Jesus.  It  hath  pleased  the  Father 
that  in  Him  should  be  fully  and  abundantly  all  things.  In 
Christ  dwelleth  all  the  grace  and  glory  of  the  Godhead  bodily. 
It  is  in  Him  that  ye  are  full. 

"  If  ye  depart  from  Jesus,  ye  are  poor,  miserable,  blind,  and 
naked — ye  have  nothing :  coming  to  Jesus,  ye  become  partakers 
of  His  riches,  His  white  robes.  His  hght,  wisdom,  happiness, 
joy,  grace,  and  love — His  kingdom  and  glory.  Come,  there- 
fore, nearer  and  nearer  to  Jesus,  and  never  leave  off  living  and 
walking  with  Him.  Be  very  close  to  his  pierced  side.  Hide 
yourselves  within  His  heart.  Bathe  your  souls  in  the  waves 
of  His  eternal  love — bathe  your  consciences  in  His  blood — 
bathe  them  every  morning  and  evening — bathe  them  continu- 
ally. There  is  no  pardon — none — for  those  who  will  not  take 
it  solely  from  the  blood  of  Jesus ;  because,  without  the  shedding 
of  His  precious  blood,  there  is  no  remission  of  sin,  nor  can  any 
sinner  be  ransomed. 

"  If  you  do  not  trust  in  Christ  only,  who  about  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago  died  on  the  cross  for  our  sins — the  Just  for 
the  unjust — you  cannot  be  saved.  Christ  is  the  only  Saviour. 
And  Christ  saves  none  but  only  through  His  blood.  If  you 
trust  in  your  tears,  prayers,  works,  persecutions,  or  tribulations 
borne  for  the  sake  of  Jesus — if  you  trust  in  such  things,  you 
are  certainly  wrong,  and  walk  far  from  the  way  of  salvation. 
Such  things  are  not  Christ — stlch  things  are  not  your  Saviour. 
Do  not  trust  in  them,  but  only  in  Christ ;  for  out  of  Christ 
there  is  no  salvation  whatever. 

"  It  is  good  to  shed  tears  of  sadness,  thinking  on  your  sins ; 
but  shed  them  looking  to  Christ  crucified.  It  is  good  to  pray, 
and  to  pray  more  and  more  earnestly ;  but  you  ought  to  pray, 
trusting  only  on  the  merits  of  Christ.  It  is  good  to  do  the  good 
works  of  faith  and  love — it  is  good  to  increase  more  and  more 


224  MEMOIR   GF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

in  fortitude,  charity,  purity,  and  meekness  :  but  see  you  don^t 
put  any  confidence  in  your  own  works.  Put  all  your  confi- 
dence and  hope  in  the  perfected  work  of  the  holy  Son  of  God. 
Confidence  in  your  own  works  will  bring  to  you  condemnation 
and  death.  Faith  in  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  will  make  us  par- 
takers of  the  merits  of  His  death,  and  consequently  of  the  bless- 
ings of  His  resurrection.  It  is  good,  if  necessary,  to  suffer  perse- 
cution, shame,  and  death  itself,  for  the  sake  of  the  name  of  Jesus. 
But  we  ought  always  to  remember,  that  it  is  not  for  the  sake 
of  our  personal  sorrows  and  sufferings,  but  only  for  the  sake  of 
the  sufferings  which  Christ  endured,  that  we  are  saved. 

"  In  Christ  we  have  redemption  through  His  blood — the 
complete  forgiveness  of  our  sins.  In  Christ  'all  things  are 
ours.'  Out  of  Christ  we  have  nothing.  Do  you  wish  for  par- 
don and  peace  ? — go  to  Christ.  In  Him  you  will  find  all  you 
want.  Do  you  wish  for  light  and  wisdom  ? — do  you  wish  to 
understand  more  the  meaning  of  the  Word  of  God  ? — ^go  to 
Christ.  He  will  send  you  the  Spirit  of  light  and  truth.  Do 
you  wish  for  growth  in  grace  and  in  holiness — more  faith  and 
strength  to  overcome  sin  within  and  the  world  without  ? — ^go, 
my  brethren,  go  again  and  again  to  Christ.  Christ  has  for 
you  all  the  gifts  of  faith  and  strength  and  gra^e  and  holiness. 
Anything  you  want,  either  for  the  soul  or  for  the  body — for 
the  life  which  now  is,  or  for  that  which  is  to  come — go  to 
Christ :  all  things  are  found  there  in  Christ.  Christ  is  ready 
to  give  you  all  things  abundantly.  To  be  far  from  Christ  is  to 
be  far  from  light,  from  life,  from  mercy,  and  from  heaven — to 
be  far  from  Christ  is  to  be  near  death,  misery,  hell — to  be 
without  Christ  is  to  be  without  God,  without  hope  in  the 
world. 

"  If  we  have  Christ,  we  have  all — without  Christ  we  have 
nothing.  You  can  be  happy  without  money,  without  liberty, 
without  parents,  and  without  friends,  if  Christ  is  yours :  if  you 
have  not  Christ,  neither  money,  nor  liberty,  nor  parents,  nor 
friends,  can  make  you  happy.     Christ,  with  a  chain,  is  hberty — 


PASTORAL   LETTEB.  225 

liberty,  without  Christ,  is  a  chain.     Christ,  without  anything, 
is  riches — all  things,  without  Christ,  is  poverty  indeed. 

"  Therefore,  my  brethren,  '  persevere  in  the  Lord  with  full  pur- 
pose of  heart.'  '  Be  firm  in  the  faith,  and  strong  in  the  grace 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.'  '  All  things  are  yours,  whether  it  be 
the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come 
— ^all  are  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's.' 
*  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  shall  tribula- 
tion, or  distress,  or  persecution,  or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or 
peril,  or  sword  ?  In  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquer- 
ors through  Him  that  loved  us.  For  I  am  persuaded  that 
neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers, 
nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth, 
nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.'  Christ,  who 
loved,  and  still  loves,  and  will  love  us  forever,  is  Lord  over  all 
in  heaven  and  in  earth.     Therefore  fear  no  evil. 

"  Be  steadfast,  waiting  on  the  Lord.  Now  you  are  perse- 
cuted :  wait  with  patience,  beloved  brethren,  a  little  longer. 
The  Lord  is  about  to  come  to  judge  the  world.  '  Behold,  He 
cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  Him ;  and  they 
also  which  pierced  Him,  and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth,  shall 
wail  because  of  Him.  Even  so.  Amen.'  The  Lord  grant 
that  ye  may  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  following  after  holi 
ness,  having  compassion  on  your  enemies,  praying  for  them 
that  they  may  be  saved,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 
Pray  for  me,  that  I  may  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  I 
endeavor  to  pray  for  you,  remembering  all  your  afflictions. 
Grace  be  with  every  one  of  you. — Your  brother  that  loves 
you,  W.  H.  Hewitson." 

"It  was  remarkable  from  time  to  time,"  writes 
Brainerd,  "  that  wlien  I  was  favored  with,  any  special 
freedom  in  discoursing  of  the  ability  of  Christ  to  save 
sinners,  and  the  need  they  stood  in  of  such  a  Saviour, 

10* 


226  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

there  was  then  the  greatest  appearance  of  Divine 
power  in  awakening  numbers  of  secure  souls,  promot- 
ing convictions  begun,  and  comforting  the  distressed." 
Similar  was  the  experience  of  Mr.  Hewitson.  And 
similar,  it  may  be  added,  was  the  experience  of  Dr. 
Kalley.  It  was  the  Bible -preaching  of  Christ  which, 
in  the  hand  of  the  Spirit,  told  with  so  marvellous  ef- 
fect upon  the  consciences  of  the  people.  Dr.  Kalley, 
in  reviewing  the  scenes  which  he  witnessed  in  Ma- 
deira, and  tracing  the  causes  of  the  work,  thus  closes 
the  original  Notes,  quoted  in  a  former  chapter.  The 
date  is  "Beyroot,  15th  January,  1851." 

"  It  was  delightful  to  witness  the  effects  of  the  belief  of  God's 
Word — to  see  tears  of  joy  gushing  over  the  cheeks  as  the  truth 
burst  upon  the  soul,  for  the  first  time,  that  the  offended  God 
Himself  acquits  the  ungodly — that  He  in  His  own  Word  as- 
sures the  sinner  that  He  delights  in  mercy,  and,  for  His  great 
love  wherewith  He  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sin, 
sent  His  Son  to  redeem  them  that  had  incurred  the  curse  of 
His  broken  law.  'He  sent  His  Word  and  healed  them.'  The 
spiritual  results  were  as  striking  and  more  precious  than  any 
even  miraculous  bodily  cure.  The  eyes  of  the  blind  were 
opened — the  ears  of  the  deaf  unstopped — the  lame  leapt,  and 
the  tongue  of  the  dumb  sang.  They  were  '  begotten'  of  God 
by  His  '  Word  of  truth ;'  they  grew  by  the  sincere  milk  of  it ;  it 
was  sweeter  to  them  than  honey — more  precious  than  gold : 
the  words  of  Jesus  were  spirit  and  life  to  them.  They  ap- 
peared to  feel  that  the  words  of  God  were  addressed  to  them  in- 
dividually— that  the  gift  of  God,  even  eternal  life  by  Jesus 
Christ,  was  freely  offered  to  them,  each  personally,  by  the 
Lord;  and, believing  this  and  accepting  it,  they  in  some  measure 
realized  the  greatness  of  their  debt  to  the  Redeemer     They 


NOTES   BY   DE.    KALLEY.  227 

enjoyed    peace    through    His    blood — they    rejoiced    in    the 
Lord. 

"  Sometimes  the  expression  of  their  attachment  to  Him  was 
very  striking ;  and  their  sympathy  and  affection  towards  each 
other  were  truly  brotherly.  Their  enemies  witnessed  changes 
upon  them  which  appeared  very  strange  and  unaccountable,  es- 
pecially when  they  persecuted  them.  The  gentleness  and  pa- 
tience, the  love  and  joy,  of  the  sufferers,  confounded  even  their 
persecutors,  some  of  whom  were  reported  to  have  used  expres- 
ions  hke  these :  '  We  call  these  people  ugly  names,  and  they  don't 
answer  back;  we  spit  upon  them,  and  they  don't  get  angry  ; 
we  beat  them,  and  they  seem  pleased ;  we  break  open  their 
houses  and  destroy  their  property,  and  they  are  happy ;  we  put 
them  in  jail,  and  they  sing — we  can't  make  them  unhappy.' 
Some  regarded  it  as  a  kind  of  monomania ;  some,  ignorant  of 
any  adequate  cause,  sagely  remarked  thta  they  must  be  well  paid 
for  it ;  while  many,  there  is  reason  to  hope,  were  led  to  examine, 
and  ascertained  the  true  cause,  so  as  to  participate  in  the  peace 
and  joy,  and  in  the  sufferings  too. 

"Thus  the  believers  were  epistles — living  epistles  of  the 
truth  ;  and  they  witnessed  for  the  Lord,  not  by  suffering  only, 
or  by  giving  a  little  money  to  pay  a  substitute  to  do  the  Lord's 
work  for  them,  but,  when  they  knew  that  He  desires  the  gos- 
pel to  be  preached  to  every  creature,  that  all  should  know  Hinij 
trust  Him,  and  be  happy,  almost  every  one  seemed  to  feel  re- 
sponsible for  making  known  to  others — relations,  friends,  neigh- 
bors, or  acquaintances — the  wonders  of  God's  love :  and,  though 
unlearned  and  ignorant,  they  felt  that  it  was  their  duty,  as  well 
as  their  inestimable  privilege  and  pleasure  to  tell  their  fellow- 
sinners  of  the  favor  shown  to  men  in  the  redemption  by  Christ 
Jesus. 

"  But  it  is  time,"  concludes  Dr.  Kalley,  "  to  acknowledge  the 
working  of  the  great  First  Cause,  without  whom  all  else  would 
have  been  as  vain  as  ploughing  the  sand.  None  but  God  can 
change  the  constituents  of  a  putrid  corpse,  and  make  it  rise, 


228  MEMOIR   OF  REV,    W.    H.   HEWITSOW, 

live,  and  perform  the  functions  of  a  living  man  ;  and  as  little 
can  any  but  He  convert  a  soul,  raising  it  from  the  deformity, 
corruption,  and  death  of  sin,  to  the  health,  beauty,  and  life  of 
holiness.  God  the  Holy  Spirit  employed  the  truths  which  He 
has  revealed  in  the  Bible  for  the  prodv\ction  of  results  vi^hich 
are  indeed  great  and  glorious.  He  prepared  that  instrument 
His  own  use ;  and,  having  given  it  such  a  nature,  edge,  and 
temper,  that  it  pierces  to  the  soul  and  spirit,  and  wherever  it  is 
really  believed  must  produce  itsjflkppropriate  results,  how  does 
it  become  the  ministers  of  the  Word  to  use  it ! 

"  Other  things  served  to  shake  the  people's  confidence  in  re- 
fuges of  lies,  and  led  them  to  listen  to  the  truth  of  God ;  but  it 
was  His  testimony  concerning  Jesus  which  was  most  manifestly 
effectual  upon  the  heart,  slaying  the  enmity,  and  reconciling  the 
sinner  to  God." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
1846. 

Return  Home — Correspondence — Conversation — Tidings  from  Ma- 
deira— Appointment  to  Trinidad — Arsenio  da  Silva — Character- 
istic Incident — Departure  for  Trinidad. 

"  Again  I  am  on  British  ground  !  The  Lord  has 
brought  me  so  far  homeward  in  safety.  From  Ma- 
deira I  sailed  to  Lisbon  in  six  days,  and  staying  there 
three  days  with  a  family  very  dear  to  me  in  the  Lord, 
left  for  London  in  a  schooner,  which,  owing  to  con- 
trary winds  and  calm,  was  detained  four  whole  weeks 
on  the  voyage.  What  portion  have  we  in  heaven  or 
earth  but  the  Lord  ?  A  parting  word  from  the  Bible 
— '  Eejoice  in  the  Lord,'  for  '  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is 
your  strength.'  " 

These  characteristic  words  Mr.  Hewitson  wrote  from 
London  on  12th  June,  1846.  Many  hearts  were  glad- 
dened to  see  once  more  in  the  flesh  this  "  dearly  be- 
loved in  the  Lord."  He  reached  Scotland  towards  the 
end  of  June. 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Ayr,  June  24,  1846. — Dear 
brother, — I  merely  write  to  inform  you  of  my  arrival  and 


230  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W.    H.    HEWITSON. 

meditated  movements.  I  left  Loudon  yesterday,  having 
preached  twice  at  Brighton  on  Sabbath,  and  returned  to  Lon- 
don on  Monday.  To-morrow,  God  wiUing,  I  prosecute  my 
journey  onward  to  Dalmellington,  and  then,  probably  next 
week,  will  be  in  Edinburgh.  Beyond  that  point  I  cannot  as 
yet  forecast  with  anything  like  certainty  what  may  be  my 
movements ;  only  I  wish  that  they  will  be  all  movements  in 
the  way  of  the  Lord  ;  for,  if  we  will  not  walk  with  God  in  His 
way.  He  will  not  leave  His  way  to  join  Himself  to  us,  and 
walk  with  us  in  ours.  It  is  our  wisdom  to  give  up  all  con- 
tending with  God  on  this  point,  for  our  way  is  always  out  of 
the  way,  and  His  way  .leads  us  right.  *  Amicus  est  pro  vehi- 
culd — and  who  so  good  a  friend  as  God  ?  We  while  away 
the  time,  and  beguile  the  weariness  of  travelling,  best  in  His 
company.  The  two  disciples  journeying  to  Emmaus  were  but 
poor  company  to  one  another ;  but  when  Jesus  joined  them, 
and  blessed  them  with  his  sweet  discourse,  their  hearts  '  burned 
in  them  by  the  way.'  His  presence  made  a  mile  a  step,  and 
an  hour  a  minute. 

"  Have  you  been  drinking  deeply  at  the  blessed  streams  of 
prophetic  truth  ?  They  are  streams  of  refreshment,  and  glad- 
ness, and  hope.  I  hope  to  find  that  you  are  brimful  of  truth, 
God's  truth,  no  less  respecting  the  glory  than  the  sufferings  of 
the  Redeemer  and  His  Church." 

Again  lie  writes : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  'i^kU'EiRk.— Dalmellington,  June  2G, 
1846. — ^I  see  not  yet  what  the  Lord's  thoughts  are  regarding 
me,  as  to  my  future  movements.  I  leave  all,  meanwhile,  in 
His  hand.  He  will  guide  me  with  His  eye,  whether  it  be  back 
again  to  Madeira  or  not.  I  saw  little  of  Madeira,  but  it  will 
be  more  worth  while  to  see  it  when  the  new  heavens  and  the 
new  earth  are  made.  I  care  not  though  I  never  see  the  mag- 
nificent places  of  the  earth  till  then.  The  children  of  God  in 
Madeira ! — I  cannot  but  remember  them  at  the  throne.     Let 


COREESPONDENCE.  231 

US  all  now  be  trimming  our  lamps,  and  making  ready  to  meet 
our  Princely  Bridegroom.  Then — it  may  be  sooner — but  at 
all  events  then,  we  shall  meet  again,  with  our  heaven-lit  lamps, 
and  our  blood-washed  wedding-garments,  when  the  jubilee  cry 
is  raised." 

And  to  anotlier  friend,  a  true  helper  of  tlie  brethren : 

"  To  James  Nisbet,  Esq.,  London. — Dalmellington^  June 
27,  1846. — I  am  so  well  in  bodily  health,  that  I  have  engaged 
to  preach  here  to-morrow I  am  anxious  to  hear  the  re- 
sult of  your  proceedings  in  Commission  at  Manchester  on  Wed- 
nesday last.  The  chief  qualification  of  deacons,  who  deal  with 
the  secularities  of  the  Church,  is,  that  they  be  '■full  of  faith 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.''  No  amount,  then,  of  qualification  is 
too  great  in  the  man  who  is  called  to  the  holy  and  spiritual 
work  of  educating  and  instructing  for  the  ministry.  Thanking 
you  sincerely  for  your  kindness  to  me  in  London,  I  am,"  &c. 

"  To  me  to  live  is  Christ."  The  following  note  tells 
how  striking  a  commentary  on  these  words  was  Mr. 
Hewitson's  daily  life.  Now,  more  than  ever,  to  him 
to  live  was  Christ : — 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — DalmelUngton,  June  29, 
1846. — God  willing,  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  being  under 
your  roof  on  Wednesday.  May  our  meeting  be  truly  in  Je- 
sus, and  our  fellowship  sweet  through  the  shedding  upon  us 
of  His  sweet  ointments.  Life  is  weary  if  Christ  be  not  in  us, 
revealing  the  name  of  the  Father.  '  As  the  hart  panteth  after 
the  water-books,  so  panteth  my  soul  after  Thee,  0  God.' 
What  soul-satisfaction  when  we  are  breathing  the  Spirit,  and 
walking  in  the  light,  and  enjoying  the  communion  of  the  Fa- 
ther, and  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ !     Truly  then  our  joy  is  full. 

"My  desire  is  to  know  no  man  henceforth  after  the  flesh,  bnt 


232  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

to  seek  Christ  and  God  above  all  things,  in  all  companies 
and  places.  So  much  of  Christ  as  there  is  in  every  one, 
so  much  of  beauty  and  desirableness  there  is  there,  and  no 
more.  It  is  sad,  in  these  degenerate  and  apostate  times,  in 
■which,  because  of  abounding  iniquity,  the  love  of  many  is 
waxed  cold,  to  be  obliged  often  to  bide  ourselves  in  the  secret 
of  God's  pi-esence  from  the  strife  even  of  some  of  His  own 
children's  tongues  !  How  many  speak  to  you  with  as  much 
*  strife^  or  earnestness  and  interest  about  the  vanities  of  this 
passing  world,  as  if  they  were  still  of  the  world,  and  not  born 
from  above !  You  would  ever  be  looking  unto  Jesus ;  but 
they  will  have  you  to  look  away  to  something  else,  as  if  some- 
thing else  were  more  lovely  than  He  who  is  altogether  lovely. 
Mary  sits  and  looks  up  to  Jesus  :  even  her  sister  Martha  would 
have  her  look  to  something  else. 

"More  converse  with  God,  and  less  with  man,  would  be 
health  to  our  flesh  and  marrow  to  our  bones.  We  cannot  con- 
verse with  God  in  the  company  of  our  brethren  unless  we 
meet  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  If  we  meet  in  His  name,  we  have 
His  word  for  it,  that  we  shall  not  be  without  His  presence  and 
fellowship.  When  we  meet  a  friend  in  the  Lord,  we  should 
frame  our  hearts  towards  him  into  the  prayer,  '  Grace  be  with 
thee  !'  and  when  we  part,  the  breathing  of  our  hearts  towards 
him  should  be,  "  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  thy  spirit ! 
Grace  be  with  you  till  we  meet,  and  then,  and  forever.  I  am 
your  affectionate  brother  in  Jesus, 

"W.  Hewitson." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  lie  one  day,  "  what  the  word 
conversation  is  derived  from  ?  It  is  from  a  term  whicli 
signifies  the  going  or  turning  together  of  the  oxen  in 
treading  out  the  corn.  Christians  should  walk  in  fel- 
lowship with  each  other,  and  in  common  fellowship 
with  Christ,  as  they  tread  out  '  the  finest  of  the  wheat' 


CONVERSATION,  233 

— ^the  precious  word  of  God."  Avoiding,  and  at  times 
almost  impatient  of,  fellowship  which,  was  not  "  in  the 
Spirit,"  he  rejoiced  in  a  congenial  companionship  more 
than  in  any  other  earthly  joy.  "We  give  a  few  extracts 
in  illustration : — 

"  To  A.  A.  Walkek,  Esq. — Don't  you  find  that  there  arc 
some  of  God's  children  with  whom  you  have  more  congeniality 
than  you  have  with  others  ?  Does  not  this  arise  from  your 
seeing  in  them  more  of  the  image  of  Christ  ?  Wherever  wo 
see  Christ's  image,  we  should  love  it,  for  Christ  is  there  ;  but 
it  is  natural  to  the  new  man  to  love  that  most  in  which  the 
image  of  the  Beloved  is  seen  shining  with  greatest  brightness 
and  beauty.  There  is  in  some,  whom  we  cannot  but  regard  as 
children  of  God,  such  a  residue  of  self  and  corruption  still  un- 
subdued, as,  like  an  opaque  medium,  refuses  to  transmit  the 
heavenly  light  of  truth,  except  in  faint  and  straggling  beams, 
at  the  same  time  that,  like  an  icy  mountain,  it  freezes  the  warm 
breath  of  Christian  affection." 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — We  must  be  hated  by  sinners 
if  we  deal  faithfully  with  them  in  the  pulpit,  and  in  private  re- 
fuse all  communion  with  them  on  the  principles  of  the  flesh. 
All  unsavory  peculiarism  of  manner,  however,  we  ought  to 
avoid,  and  will  avoid,  if  only  the  chamber  of  our  heart  be 
kept  fresh  and  pure  by  an  uninterrupted  circulation  of  wind 
from  heaven.  We  need  spiritual  ventilation  at  home,  that  we 
may  carry  with  us  into  every  scene  and  circle  the  freshness 
and  purity  of  a  spiritual  atmosphere.  The  sinner  is  overawed 
by  what  is  holy — he  is  disgusted  by  what  is  sanctimonious. 
Christ  was  marvellous  in  being  without  personal  peculiarities. 
What  breadth,  depth,  catholicity  in  His  character !  He  was 
livinff  truth.     O  to  be  like  Christ !" 

"  To  the  Rev.  A.  A.  Bonar,  Collage. — It  will  be  pleas- 
ant to  me  to  remember  the  times  when  our  tents  were  pitched 


284  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H,   HEWITSOX. 

side  by  side  in  the  wilderness.  To  me  our  common  meditation 
of  God  was  sweet.  Often  have  I  found  the  Lord  present  in 
the  midst  of  conversation  with  Christian  friends.  On  many 
such  occasions  has  *  the  south  wind'  come,  wafting  fragrance 
from  '  the  mountain  of  myrrh,  the  hill  of  frankincense.'  Little 
do  Christians  think  that  they  lose  so  much  when  they  waste 
their  moments  of  intercourse  in  idle  and  unprofitable  talk,  or, 
it  may  be,  in  religious  conversation,  without  seeking  the  pres- 
ence and  fellowship  of  the  Beloved. 

"  The  character  and  spirit  of  the  now  aged  apostle  John's 
conversation,  are  gathered  from  what  he  says  to  his  friend, '  the 
elect  lady :'  '  Having  many  things  to  write  unto  you,  I  would 
not  write  with  paper  and  ink ;  but  I  trust  to  come  unto  you, 
and  speak  face  to  face,  that  our  joy  may  be  full.'  His  conver- 
sation on  meeting  with  the  brethren  was  just  a  continuation 
of  what  he  wrote  about  to  them  when  absent ;  and  in  such 
conversation  'his  joy  was  full,'  for  the  Lord  was  present  ac- 
cording to  promise, '  Wheresoever  two  or  three  are  met  together 
in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.'  To  get  always 
a  fulfilment  of  this  promise,  we  should  always  meet  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  If  Christians  ever  meet  to  do  or  say  what 
they  cannot  engage  in  doing  or  saying  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
it  were  better  for  them  not  to  meet  at  all ;  for  the  Scripture 
says,  '  Whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or  deed,  do  all  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.' " 

"  Mr.  Hewitson's  most  singular  talent,"  writes  Mr. 
Dodds,  "lay  in  his  conversational  powers.  I  do  not 
speak  of  that  literary,  scientific,  or  general  conversation 
in  which  many  worldly  men  have  eminently  excelled, 
and  in  which  he  also,  with  his  fine  fancy,  high  scholar- 
ship, and  extensive  information,  was,  or  could  have 
been,  no  mean  proficient.  But  his  peculiar  faculty 
was  that  of  Christian  conversation,  in  which  he  be- 


CONVERSATION.  235 

came  sucli  a  master.  During  the  latter  period  of  bis 
life,  as  he  grew  in  grace  and  in  holiness  of  spirit,  he 
seemed  to  consecrate  all  his  correspondence,  intercourse 
with  friends,  and  private  conversation,  to  Christ.  As 
others  often  strive  to  turn  conversation  away  from 
spiritual  things,  so  did  he  watch  and  strive  to  turn  it 
into  that  channel.  As  an  expositor  of  the  Word  in 
the  family  circle,  as  a  preacher  of  Christ  in  the  house 
or  by  the  wayside,  I  never  knew  his  equal.  He  had 
none  of  that  backwardness  or  false  delicacy  which  is 
so  frequently  a  snare  to  ministers  who  desire  to  be 
useful  in  private.  With  becoming  boldness  and  reso- 
lution, yet  with  suitable  tact  and  gentleness,  he  often 
succeeded  in  introducing  a  Christian  element  even  into 
a  worldly  company  ;  and,  instead  of  yielding  to  the 
current  of  conversation  around  him,  he  would  lead  it 
in  a  different  direction  by  the  firmness  and  consistency 
of  his  deportment," 

"  He  never  opens  his  mouth,"  was  the  observation 
of  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Scottish  bar,  respect- 
ing his  ordinary  conversation,  "but  something  comes 
forth  worth  remembering."  The  reason  was,  he  sought 
to  utter  everything  as  before  the  Lord.  His  conversa- 
tion was  so  fragrant  of  Christ,  because  he  held  so 
constant  fellowship  with  Him  through  the  Word.  "  I 
know  not,"  says  Mr.  Wood,  who  was  with  him  in 
Madeira,  "  that  I  ever  met  with  any  one  more  thorough- 
ly acquainted  with  his  Bible.  He  was  truly  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures.     He  was  also  eminently  a  man  of 


236  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

prayer."     He  himself  thus  indicates  tlie  way  in  which 
the  Word  was  studied : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  A.  A.  Bonar. — When  the  Word,  as  we 
read  it,  shines  with  the  light  of  God's  glory,  what  a  token  this 
is  of  His  goodness  towards  us !  When  I  read  the  Scriptures 
and  find  nothing,  I  cannot  but  attribute  this  to  His  fatherly 
displeasure.  An  earthly  parent,  when  offended  by  the  con- 
duct of  a  child,  observes  am  unusual  silence,  and  his  face  is  not 
toward  the  child  as  before.  God  deals  with  His  children  in 
the  same  way.  Did  not  the  Psalmist  refer  to  such  fatherly 
discipline  when  he  cried  aloud,  '  Be  not  silent  unto  me  V  To 
be  taught  more  and  more,  we  must  abide  in  the  love  of  God. 
All  the  disciples  wished  to  ask  the  Lord  a  question,  but  it  was 
only  the  disciple  that  lay  in  the  Lord's  bosom  that  had  con- 
fidence enough  to  ask  it.  '  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them 
that  fear  Him.' " 

During  Autumn,  he  occupied  various  pulpits  suc- 
cessively, in  the  room  of  absent  brethren.  For  four 
Sabbaths  he  was  with  the  congregation  of  the  Eev.  C. 
J.  Brown,  in  Edinburgh;  and  double  that  number 
were  spent  at  Linlithgow.  A  few  incidental  notices 
will  exhibit  his  deepening  and  chastened  spirituality. 

The  first  extract  is  addressed  to  a  bereaved  friend : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — July  28,  1846. — Bereavement 
is  necessarily  painful,  but  I  think  that  I  could  forego  with  glad- 
ness the  comforts  of  living  fellowship  with  even  the  dearest  on 
earth,  had  I  the  blessedness  of  good  warrant  to  believe  that 
the  soul  of  that  dearest  one  was  with  Jesus  in  paradise. 
Blessed  and  sweet  are  the  tears  which  wet  the  cheek  that  shines 
with  the  radiance  of  joy  like  this !     It  were  to  me  as  many 


COKRESPONDENCE.  237 

salvations,  and  as  many  heavens  as  I  have  souls  clear  to  me,  to 
see  these  souls  each  and  all  saved  and  in  heaven. 

"  Alas  !  now-a-days  most  Christians  are  spending  their  faith 
in  laying-  the  foundations  of  hope,  which  lie  deep°among  the 
facts  of  history,  and  they  seem  to  have  little  time  for  those 
heaven-reaching  exercises  of  adult  faith  which  fit  the  soul  for 
dwelling  among  the  perspective  glories  and  purities  of  perfected  L^^ 
salvation.     Faith  now-a-clays  looks  back  to  the  Red  Sea,  but  ' 
not  forward  to  the  Jordan.     It  fixes  its  eye  on  the  Alpha  alone 
for  redemption ;— the  Omega  of  redemption  scarcely  even  en- 
gages its  thoughts.     It  thinks  of  what  it  is  called  from,  not  of 
what  it  is  called  to.     Oh,  to  know  what  is  the  hope  of  God's 
calling !" 

The  next  extracts  are  in  a  similar  strain  :— 

''To  William  Dickson,  Esq.— ^w^zw^  8,  1846.— O  how 
delicate  is  the  organization  of  the  spiritual  economy !  It  needs 
to  be  kept  as  the  apple  of  the  eye.  How  holy  is  the  God  and 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  The  smallest  sin  unforgiven 
will  interrupt  our  communion  with  Him,  and  'heaviness  will 
make  our  heart  to  stoop,'  till  '  a  good  word'  from  the  blood  of 
sprinkling  '  make  it  glad'  again,  and  restore  to  us  the  privilege 
of  lymg  down  in  the  bosom  of  God. 

"  Speculation  about  these  things  is  cold  and  dreary.  To  ex- 
perience their  power  is,  '  Our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father  and 
with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,'  and  '  Our  joy  is  full'  ....  A 
blank  made  in  the  circle  of  friendship,  in  whatever  part  of  the 
cn-cle  it  be~(my  dear  friend,  Mr.  Mudie,  of  Glasgow,  is  no 
morem  the  camp  of  the  wilderness— the  tent  is  found  no  more- 
there  is  a  sad  blank  where  it  stood)— is  a  place  all  withered 
and  desolate  ;  but  still  the  rest  of  the  circle  may  be  full  of 
light  and  gladness.  If  the  central  point  of  the  circle  become 
a  blank— if  God  be  taken  away,  then  the  whole  circle  is  cov- 
ered with  darkness  and  desolation— there  is  a  dreary  void  and 
joy  is  gone.     Take  away  God,  and  leave  all  besides,  we  are  in 


238  MEMOIR  OF   KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

a  waste  howling  wilderness,  and  a  land  of  drought.  Take 
away  all,  and  leave  God  behind,  '  our  joy  is  full.'" 

"To  William  Dickson, Esq. — ^Sep^emJer  16, 1846. — God 
has  taken  from  you,  as  it  were,  a  pledge  that  you  will  live  for 
eternity.  The  bereaved  soul  goes  across  the  border  of  time 
in  quest  of  the  departed  spirit,  and  so  acquaints  itself  better 
with  eternity  and  its  unseen  realities.  How  real  is  the  distant 
isle  to  which  a  friend  has  gone,  though  it  seemed  formerly  but 
a  dim  fog  on  the  sea !  How  real  is  eternity  when  one  that  we 
have  loved,  and  love  still,  is  there  !  '  One  that  I  love  is  there' 
— that  gives  our  hearts  a  local  habitation  in  eternity. 

"  This  event  tells  that  we  are  nearer  our  journey's  end  now 
than  we  were  yesterday.  The  Jordan  is  not  far  off.  A  few 
breathings  of  the  air  of  the  wilderness,  a  few  steps  across  its 
dreary  sands,  and  then  we  reach  home !" 

About  the  beginning  of  September  lie  bad  a  return 
of  spitting  of  blood.  On  a  medical  examination,  bow- 
ever,  be  was  pronounced  very  considerably  better 
tban  be  bad  been  two  years  previously.  Whilst  still 
contemplating  the  possibility  of  ere  long  returning  to 
Madeira,  the  startling  news  reached  him  of  the  scat- 
tering of  his  beloved  flock.  Afflicted  in  their  afflic- 
tion, he  thus  writes : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Glasgow,  Septemher  17,  1846. 
— An !  the  tidings  from  Madeira  are  truly  sad.  The  dear  peo- 
ple, hunted  like  wild  beasts  on  the  mountains  by  their  savage 
foes,  and  forced  on  the  resource  of  emigration,  as  the  only 
means  of  escape  from  the  dreadful  alternative  of  relapse  into 
Popery,  or  suffering,  it  might  be,  in  many  cases  to  death  !  One 
man  brutally  murdered !  Several  women  beaten  almost  to 
death  !  Popery  would  exterminate  grace  itself  from  the  earth, 
if  it  could." 


ARSENIO   L)A  SILVA.  2o0 

"To  A  Friend  in  Madeira. — Linlithgow,  September  28, 
1846. — I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your  kind  communica- 
cation.  It  relieved  my  anxiety  on  account  of  the  persecuted 
flock.  Flight  seems  the  only  resource.  Will  you  give  to 
them  the  third  chapter  of  first  Thessalonians  to  read  as  from 
me  ?  It  is  truly  matter  of  thankfulness  and  rejoicing  that  the 
Lord  has  raised  up  friends  for  His  persecuted  flock  in  this  day 
of  trial." 

It  was  proposed  to  Mr.  Hewitson  by  the  Colonial 
Committee  tliat  lie  sliould  visit  the  Portuguese  in  theii 
place  of  exile.  To  this  proposal  he  at  once  assented  ; 
and  his  departure  was  only  delayed  until  another 
measure  should  be  matured. 

There  was  at  Lisbon  at  that  moment  a  Madeiran 
refugee,  who  had  once  been  a  gentleman  of  great 
wealth  in  his  native  island.  The  reader  may  remem- 
ber the  scene  on  the  morning  of  2d  August,  when,  as 
one  of  the  worshippers  was  leaving  the  house  where 
they  had  been  assembled,  a  crucifix  was  rudely  thrust 
in  his  face,  and  he  was  ordered  to  adore  it  as  his  god. 
Eome  owed  that  man  a  grudge.  Touched  by  the  love 
of  Christ,  he  had  left  the  brilliant  circles  of  which  he 
was  the  ornament,  and,  joining  the  night-meetings  of 
the  persecuted  Bible-readers,  had  esteemed  it  his  high- 
est privilege  to  stimulate  and  to  pray  with  them.  As 
the  persecution  waxed  hotter,  Senhor  Arsenio  da  Silva 
was  not  a  victim  to  be  spared.  He  soon  saw  that  his 
only  safety  was  flight.  A  beloved  wife,  and  an  only 
daughter,  married  to  one  of  the  judges,  still  clung  to 
Rome ;   and  these,  as  well  as  lands  and  houses,  he 


240  MEMOIR  OF  HEV.    W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

mup.t  forsake  for  his  Lord.  The  parting  scene  was 
mo-it  affecting.  "  I  was  obliged,"  is  his  own  account 
of  it,  since  given  by  him  on  his  death-bed,  "to  come 
Crom.  the  interior  to  the  city  of  Funchal,  where  my 
family  reside,  in  the  night.  I  engaged  a  man  to  stand 
at  the  corner  of  a  certain  street  at  an  appointed  hour. 
When  the  hour  came  I  met  this  man,  who  conducted 
me  to  a  house  where  I  should  be  concealed.  I  dared 
not  visit  my  own  residence,  nor  see  my  family.  I 
sent  to  my  wife  and  obtained  a  little  money,  and  then 
sailed  for  Lisbon,  without  the  privilege  of  personally 
saying  '  Farewell'  to  those  who  were  the  dearest  to 
me  on  earth."  They  were  never  again  to  meet.  "  I 
have  a  letter  from  my  wife,"  he  would  be  heard  say- 
ing, years  afterwards,  in  his  imperfect  English — 
"  kind,  friendly  letter,  but  no  good,  no  spiritual  in  it — 
no  faith  in  Jesus  Christ." 

To  Da  Silva  Mr.  Hewitsou  turned  his  eye  as  the 
man  of  all  others  most  fitted,  both  by  gifts  and  by 
graces,  to  take  the  permanent  oversight  of  the  exiled 
flock.  He  had  ordained  him  an  elder  before  leaving 
Madeira.  And  now,  at  his  suggestion,  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  named  him  as  their  missionary. 
Arsenic  joyfully  went.  And  thus  Mr.  Hewitson,  ere 
he  returned  home,  was  to  have  the  satisfaction  of 
handing  over  to  this  dear  fellow-laborer  the  care  of  the 
scattered  church. 

The  interval  occupied  by  this  arrangement  was  spent 
chiefly  at  Blairgowrie.     Respecting  his   four  weeks' 


CORRESPOXDEXCE.  241 

ministrations  there,  we  find  Mr,  A.  Bouar  writing: — 
"  You  were  blessed  greatly  to  the  nourishing  of  some 
souls,  who  have  gTown  in  gTace  ever  since."  We  give 
a  few  extracts  from  his  correspondence : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  R.  Macdonald. — Blairgowrie,  November  24, 
184G. — I  am  glad  to  hear  that  the  Lord  is  opening  up  the 
way  before  you.  When  we  fail  to  observe  answers  to  prayer, 
and  to  make  them  occasions  of  praise,  may  we  not  expect  that 
God  will,  as  a  matter  of  discipline  and  chastisement,  send  an- 
swers to  prayer  less  abundant,  less  marked?  Our  Lord  is 
angry  with  the  wicked  for  not  considering  '  the  operations  of 
His  hands  :'  how  much  greater  cause  for  anger  He  has,  when 
He  finds  His  own  children  not  recognizing,  in  His  dealings 
with  them,  tokens  of  His  love  and  faithfulness  as  the  hearer 
of  prayer !  *  We  should  seek,'  said  a  brother  to  me  lately  in 
London — '  we  should  seek  to  meet  God  in  every  circumstance.' 
In  every  circumstance  we  should,  I  may  add,  by  way  of  apply- 
ing the  observation,  seek  to  meet  God  as  the  answerer  of  prayer. 
Praying  without  ceasing,  and  praising  without  ceasing,  the  be- 
liever can,  without  ceasing,  walk  with  God. 

'  Bless'd  are  they  in  Thy  house  that  dwell, 
They  ever  give  Thee  praise : 
Bless'd  is  the  man  whose  strength  Thou  art, 
In  whose  heart  are  Thy  ways.'  " 

"To  A  Friend  in  Madeira. — Edinburgh,  December  11, 
184G. — Yesterday  I  came  from  Blairgowrie,  and  am  now  in 
the  press  of  my  preparations  for  setting  out  on  my  way  to 
Trinidad.  You  have  referred  to  our  going  together  to  the 
house  of  Antonio  da  Corea  up  the  Camho  da  Mico.  Since 
the  day  referred  to,  the  aspect  of  things  there  is  sadly  changed. 
The  garden  is  a  desolation ;  the  pleasant  trees  which  the  Lord 
planted  are  almost  all  plucked  up,  and  transplanted  in  a  foreign 

11 


242  MEMOIK   OF  KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

soil.  '  Woe  to  thee,'  0  Madeira !  for  thou  hast  not  known  the 
day  of  thy  visitation.  My  heart  is  comforted,  amidst  all  the 
evil  that  is  befalling  the  church  and  the  world,  by  a  prospect 
of  the  speedy  coming  in  of  the  promised  '  times  of  refreshing 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.'  " 

"  To  ANOTHER  Friend  IN  MADEIRA. — Edinburgh,  December 
11,1846. — The  cross  now — the  crown  to-morrow.  Now  the 
bed  of  languishing — to-morrow  the  throne  of  Jesus.  What 
encouragement  to  '  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  !'  The  body 
now  bears  the  spirit  down :  wait  till  dawn  of  day,  and  the 
spirit  will  bear  the  body  up.  A  few  breathings  more  in  this 
dull  and  oppressive  element,  then  all  will  be  health  and  buoy- 
ancy, strength  and  gladness,  purity  and  peace — the  body 
changed,  the  heart  all  holy. 

"  Even  now  the  Lord  is  with  you,  but  you  cannot  see  Him 
for  the  darkness  of  night.  You  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight. 
Yet  you  can  say,  '  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.'  He  lives 
— He  thinks  upon  you — He  is  with  you — He  will  never  leave 
you  nor  forsake  you.  He  is  a  Friend,  a  Brother,  a  Lord  ;  a 
Friend,  to  guide  you  with  His  counsel ;  a  Brother,  to  sym- 
pathize with  you  in  all  your  sorrow ;  a  Lord,  to  defend  you 
from  all  evil,  and  make  all  things  work  together  for  your  good. 
No  safety  but  at  His  side  ;  no  comfort  but  in  His  bosom  ;  no 
strength  but  in  His  arm ;  no  holiness  but  in  His  steps." 

The  next  extract  illustrates  a  feature  of  cliaracter 
wHcli  those  who  knew  him  will  recognize.  In  con- 
versation, he  had  been  betrayed  into  warmth  of  argu- 
ment. He  had  abruptly  left  the  table,  and  sat  alone 
on  the  sofa  all  the  rest  of  the  evening,  uttering  scarce- 
ly a  word.     The  occasion  called  forth  the  following : — 

^^  DalmeUinfftony  December  21,  1846. — My  last  visit  was,  iu 
one  respect,  to  myself,  a  memorable,  because  an  humbling  one. 
The  Spirit  of  the  meek  and  lowly-hearted  Jesus  was  grieved 


CONVERSATlOitr.  243 

by  my  want  of  long-suffering.  If  my  sin  had  been  secret,  I 
would  have  spoken  of  it  to  the  Lord  alone ;  but,  when  we  sin 
in  one  another's  presence,  we  should  remember  the  words, 
'  Confess  your  faults  one  to  another.'  We  are  Christ's  witnesses 
in  the  world,  called  on  to  show  forth  His  glory  by  our  lives  as 
well  as  by  our  hps.  We  must  live  over  the  life  of  Christ  on 
earth ;  we  must  breathe  the  breath  of  Christ  among  men  ;  we 
must  show  what  He  is,  by  being  in  the  world  even  as  He' was 
m  the  world ;  we  must  be  holy  as  He  is  holy.  We  need  to 
walk  circumspectly,  ever  identifying  ourselves  with  Christ." 

"I  am  sure,"  remarked  Mr.  Hewitson  on  one  occa- 
sion, "many  think  me  very  disagreeable."  Without 
waiting  for  a  reply,  lie  added,  "I  never  utter  my 
mind  on  a  subject  till  I  have  studied  it,  and  formed 
my  judgment.  I  like  then  to  meet  with  sympathy, 
and  shrink  from  those  who  cannot  extend  it  to  me." 
This  often  gave  to  him  an  air  of  dogmatism,  which 
strangers  did  not  relish.  But  the  instance  narrated 
will  show  how  tenderly  alive  he  was  to  this  failing. 
Indeed,  others  often  wondered  at  what  seemed  an  ex- 
cess of  tenderness  of  conscience. 

At  length  he  was  in  circumstances  to  set  out  for 
the  West  Indies.  "  I  longed,"  writes  Brainerd  in  his 
diary,  "  to  be  as  a  flame  of  fire,  continually  glowing 
in  the  Divine  service,  preaching  and  building  up 
Christ's  kingdom  to  my  latest,  my  dying  hour."  The 
glow  in  Mr.  Hewitson's  soul  at  this  period  is  seen  in 
the  following  notes  written  on  the  eve  of  his  de- 
parture : — 

"  To  A  Fkiendin  Glasgow. —Dalmellington,  December  21, 


244  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

1846. —  ....  I  am  on  my  way  for  Trinidad  at  last.  By  the 
earliest  steamer  I  intend  to  leave  Southampton.  O  that  the 
church  throughout  the  world  were  aroused  from  sleep  !  Faith 
is  feeble  to  wean  our  hearts  from  earth,  and  lift  them  up  to 
heaven,  unless  its  roots  be  in  Calvary,  and  its  branches  aloft  in 
the  light  of  the  yet  unmanifested  glory.  Christ  crucified  is  the 
ground  of  our  faith  ;  Christ  coming  in  glory  is  the  end.  The 
first  advent  is  the  foundation  of  hope  ;  the  second  advent  is  the 
object  of  hope.  Meanwhile  '  oo^.upy  till  I  come'  is  the  mind  of 
the  Lord." 

"  To  THE  Rev.  R.  Macdonald. — Same  date. — Have  faith 
in  God.  Faith  will  be  staggered  even  by  loose  stones  in  the 
way,  if  we  look  man-ward  ;  if  we  look  God-ward,  faith  will  not 
be  staggered  even  by  inaccessible  mountains  stretching  across, 
and  obstructing  apparently  our  onward  progress.  '  Go  forward' 
is  the  voice  from  heaven ;  and  faith,  obeying,  finds  the  moun- 
tains before  it  flat  as  plains.  *  God  with  us'  is  the  watchword 
of  our  warfare — the  secret  of  our  strength,  the  security  of  our 
triumph.  '  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him 
that  believeth.'  How  strong  faith  is  when  we  are  just  fresh 
from  the  fountain  of  redeeming  blood  !  A  good  conscience, 
and  then  faith  will  do  all  things,  for  it  is  in  its  very  nature  such 
as  to  let  God  work  all.  We  may  say  that  it  is  most  active 
when  it  is  most  passive,  and  that  it  wearies  least  when  it  does 
most  work." 

*'  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Same  date. — I  just  write 
you  a  few  lines  to  bid  you  far.ewell  before  I  leave  Britain.  .  .  . 
No  converted  soul  should  rest  satisfied  till  it  think  every  thought 
and  speak  every  word  in  communion  with  Jesus.  To  have  a 
lower  standard  is  to  be  ignorant  of  our  standing  in  Christ — of 
what  we  have  in  Him,  of  the  closeness  of  our  union  with  Him, 
and  of  the  character  we  should  maintain  to  be  in  keeping  with 
our  profossion  of  faith  in  His  name. 

"  My  impression  of  the  godliness  of  Scotland  has  been  some- 
what modified  since  ray  sojourn  in  Lisbon  and  Madeira.     Scot- 


DEPARTURE   TOR  TRINIDAD.  245 

tish  Christians,  in  general,  seem  not  to  realize  everywhere,  in 
all  companies,  and  at  all  times,  the  presence,  the  indwelling  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  nor  to  realize  in  any  great  measure 
that  they  are  not  of  this  world,  but  sent  into  it  by  God  as 
messengers  with  a  message  from  Him.  But  if  this  remark 
apphes  to  Scotland,  to  what  land  does  it  not  apply  ?  Where 
is  godliness  more  flourishing  ?  "Where  profession  more  rife  ? 
Where  the  church  more  conspicuously  set  on  a  hill  before  the 
world's  eye  ? 

"  Christ  dwelling  in  ixs — that  is  light,  life,  fragrance,  holi- 
ness. Many  seek  Christ  within  before  finding  Christ  without, 
and  so  cannot  attain  to  peace  ;  many,  after  finding  Christ 
without,  don't  seek  diligently  to  have  Christ  within.  To  have 
both  Christ  without  and  Christ  within  is  peace  and  purity." 

Again,  as  two  years  before,  many  sympatliizing 
hearts  "  accompanied  to  tlie  sliip"  tlie  dear  brother  by 
whom  they  had  been  so  pleasantly  refreshed.  One 
of  his  friends,  (Mr.  A.  Bonar)  thus  expresses  what 
not  a  few  others  felt.  The  date  is  "December  25, 
1846":— 

"  I  can  almost,  with  Paul,  say,  '  I  give  thanks  at  every  re- 
membrance of  you,'  and  I  think  I  cannot  fail  to  follow  you 
with  many  prayers.  It  was  pleasant  for  the  Ethiopian  to  have 
fellowship  with  Philip,  while  the  Spirit  himself  was  the  guide 
of  both.  Yet  their  after  way  was  pleasant  too,  because  of  that 
Jesus,  whom  they  both  loved  better  than  they  did  each  other, 
and  to  love  whom  better  the  one  had  helped  the  other.  Still, 
dear  brother,  do  you  not  think  you  hear  the  Ethiopian  on  his 
knees  upon  some  Abyssinian  hill,  or  under  some  fig-tree,  re- 
membering Philip  before  the  Lord  ?  How  he  prays  for  him  ! 
How  his  heart  longs  to  meet  him  again !    I  feel  this  way  of= 


246  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   II.   HEWITSON, 

tentimes  toward  all  that  have  been  refreshing  to  my  soul ;  and 
these  words,  '  our  gathering  together  in  Him,'  have  often  been 
to  me  unspeakably  sweet.  We  will  often  pray  for  you,  and 
for  your  scattered  flock.     The  very  God  of  peace  be  yours  !" 


CHAPTER  XV. 

1847. 

Sails  for  Trinidad — Voyage — Madeira — Arrival — JoyM  Meeting — 
State  of  Portuguese — Their  Hardships — Spiritual  Condition — Por- 
tuguese Hymn  Book — Thirst  for  the  "Word — His  Self-forgetting 
Zeal — Arrival  of  Arsenio  da  Silva — Church  Organized — Leaves 
Trinidad — Death  of  Da  Silva. 

Mr.  Hewitson  was  a  man  of  action.  Living  for 
the  Lord,  lie  was  ever  ready  for  tlie  Lord's  work.  No 
details,  however  dry  and  tedious,  which  bore  on  the 
great  end,  did  he '  regard  as  unimportant.  This  fea- 
ture of  his  character  was  illustrated  by  his  ministry  in 
Trinidad.  The  object  of  his  mission  to  the  exiles,  as 
he  himself  states  it,  was  "not  only  to  administer  gos- 
pel consolation,  but  to  re-organize  them  into  a  com- 
pacted church-order."  And  the  mission  was  not  un- 
successful. 

He  sailed  from  Southampton  on  January  2,  1847. 
Some  incidents  of  the  voyage  are  thus  narrated : 

"To  his' Father. — Barbadoes,  January  26,  1847. — It  will 
be  two  weeks  to-morrow  since  we  reached  Madeira.  Danger 
of  interception  by  the  authorities  ashore  had  made  me  averse 
to  landing ;  but  the  kind  conspiracy  of  friends,  who  were  ex- 


248  MEMOIR   OF    REV.   W.   H,   HEWITSON. 

pecting  me,  forced  me  away  from  the  vessel.  I  landed  at  a 
secluded  point  to  the  west  of  the  city,  and  was  escorted  by  two 
gentlemen  to  the  house  of  a  friend,  in  a  retired  situation.  A 
palanquin,  shrouding    me    from    hostile    eyes,  conveyed  me 

through  the  midst  of  the  city  to  the  house  of ,  where 

I  spent  some  time  in  pleasant  Christian  fellowship.  While 
there,  I  was  visited  by  several  friends  and  acquaintances.  I 
likewise  had  an  interview  with  seven  or  eight  Portuguese  con- 
verts, or  inquirers.  Again,  in  the  veiled  palanquin,  I  threaded 
my  way  through  the  narrow  streets  of  Funchal,  passing,  on  a 
very  limited  visit,  by  the  house  of  dear  Dr.  Millar,  and  arriving 
safely  at  the  house  in  which  I  had  found  an  asylum  after  land- 
ing. Leaving  my  friends  there,  and  in  company  with  a  gen- 
tleman, who  had  kept  at  my  side  during  the  whole  adventure, 
I  reached  in  safety,  and  much  refreshed  in  spirit,  the  steamer, 
which  a  short  time  afterwards  was  leaving  Madeira  in  the  dis- 
tance. That  I  had  been  privileged  to  enjoy  so  much  a  visit  so 
unexpected,  in  a  place  so  full  of  painfully  as  well  as  joyfully  in- 
teresting associations,  and  that  I  had  been  preserved  by  the 
Lord,  my  shield,  amidst  the  dangers  that  attended  such  an  en- 
joyment, was  cause  of  thankfulness  and  praise. 

"Barbadoes  is  2610  miles  from  Madeira.  We  leave  it  to- 
day for  Grenada,  which  is  distant  only  140  miles  ;  and,  after 
staying  there  a  few  hours,  sail  for  Trinidad,  which  is  no  more 
than  ninety-four  miles  from  Grenada.  For  a  few  days  past  the 
heat  has  been  oppressive,  the  thermometer  at  eighty-one  degrees 
in  the  shade.     I  am  now  suffering  from  its  relaxing  influence." 

"  Wednesday/,  January  21. — It  is  about  eight  o'clock,  a.m., 
and  we  are  going  along  the  coast  of  Grenada.  I  may  here  set 
up  my  Ebenezer,  and  say,  *  Hitherto  bath  the  Lord  helped  me.' 
Blessed  be  His  holy  name  !  0  that  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 
may  be  on  all  our  door-posts,  and  the  oil  of  the  Spirit  in  al! 
our  vessels  !" 

In  a  letter  of  a  later  date,  we  find  him  referring  to 
one  incident  of  the  voyage,  thus: — 


ARRIVAL  AT  TRINIDAD,  249 

"To  William  Dickson,  Esq.,  Edinburgh.— In  the  steamer 
which  brought  me  from  England,  there  was,  among  many  un- 
godly, one  who  feared  the  Lord,  and  with  whom  I  contracted 
an  mtimacy.     He  gave  me  £10  for  my  little  Trinidad  fund  • 
and,  a  few  days  afterwards,  on  my  presenting  him  with  '  The 
Marrow  of  Modern  Divinity,'  which  I  had  previously  given  him 
for  a  perusal,  and  with  which  he  had  expressed  himself  greatly 
delghted,  he  put  an  additional  £5  note  into  my  hand  for  the 
poor  Portuguese,  saying,  'This  book  is  worth  that  to  me.' 
Another,  and  to  me  an  interesting,  circumstance  connected  with 
our  intercourse,  was  that,  in  the  course  of  it,  he  was  led  to  em- 
brace the  hope  of  Christ's  pre-millennial  advent.     He  was  so 
deeply  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  that  subject,  that  on 
parting  as  we  did  at  Grenada,  he  said,  especially  in  reference 
to  It,    1  beheve-^nay,  I  am  fully  persuaded-that  it  is  of  God 
that  you  and  I  have  met.    The  subject  of  the  Lord's  comino- 
IS  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  till  now  my  attention  hat 
never  been  fully  directed  to  it.'  " 

He  next  describes  his  arrival  at  Trinidad  :— 

"To  HIS  QiST^n.— Fort  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  February  4 
1 847.-I  reached  the  Gulf  of  Pariah,  and  anchored  in  the  Roads 
of  Port  of  Spain,  on  Thursday  the  28th  of  January.     Detained 
beyond  expectation  for  want  of  a  boat  to  carry  me  ashore  I 
was  at  last  moving  towards  land,  pulled  by  two  Africans,  when 
I  was  met  m  another  boat  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kennedy,  missionary 
m  connection  with  the  United  Secession,  who,  with  Christian 
kindness,  conducted  me  to  his  hospitable  roof,  and  placed  his 
church  at  my  service  as  a  place  of  meeting  with  my  Portuguese 
flock.     Passing  by  the  meetings  and  greetings  and  embraces, 
the  tears  and  laughings,  of  kind  and  cordial  welcome  on  the 
part  of  many  well  known  in  Madeira,-!  had  a  meeting  for 
worship  on  Saturday  evening,  and  on  Sabbath  I  entered  upon 
a  regular  system  of  ministration  once  more    in   a   foreign 
tongue." 


11* 


250  MEMOIR  OF  EEV.   W,   H.   HEWITSON. 

In  the  neigliborliood  of  Port  of  Spain  lie  found 
tliree  hundred  of  the  converts,  and  in  other  parts  of 
the  island  one  hundred  and  fifty  more,  the  number 
afterwards  rising  to  seven  hundred  in  all,  exclusive  of 
some  who  had  found  a  refuge  in  other  islands.  Some 
extracts  will  indicate  his  solicitude  in  watching  over 
and  relieving  at  once  their  physical  and  spiritual  ne- 
cessities : — 

"  Trinidad,  March  4, 184Y. — Something  must  be  done  with 
a  view  to  the  more  safe  employment  of  the  exiles.  I  am  re- 
volving a  scheme  which  none  but  an  Oberlin  could  carry  vig- 
orously into  effect,  and  I  am  not  an  Oberlin.  Every  weak 
muscle  in  my  body  echoes,  '  Not  an  Oberlin.'  But  more  will 
be  required  than  an  effective  and  animating  superintendence  ; 
there  will  be  need  of  more  funds.  English  Christianity  has 
placed  £200  at  my  disposal.  Will  Scottish  Christianity  give 
nothing  in  addition  to  my  services  ?" 

"  To  THE  Convener  of  the  Colonial  Committee,  Rev. 
J.  BoNAE. — Trinidad,  March  16,  1847. — Mr.  Kennedy  has 
shown  no  small  kindness  to  the  Madeiran  refugees.  He  has 
both  *  spent  and  been  spent'  in  endeavoring  to  promote  their 
comfort,  and  contributing  to  supply  their  wants.  The  Lord 
reward  him,  and  others  also,  who  showed  bowels  of  compassion 
to  those  homeless  exiles,  who,  for  the  sake  of  eternal  life,  had 
willingly,  though  not  without  pangs  of  natural  regret,  forsaken 
all  that  was  dear  to  flesh  and  blood. 

"  One  of  my  chief  reasons  for  not  merely  consenting,  at  the 
desire  of  the  Colonial  Committee,  but  even  anxiously  desiring, 
to  visit  the  Portuguese  brethren  here,  and  spend  a  few  months 
amongst  them,  was,  that  I  apprehended,  as  the  almost  inevi- 
table consequence  of  so  great  a  change  in  their  outward  cir- 
cumstances, a  diminution  of  their  Christian  watchfulness,  and  a 
relapse,  by  imperceptible  degrees,  into  perilous  conformity  with 


EXILED   CHUECH.  251 

this  '  evil  world.'  My  apprehension,  as  I  very  soon  discovered, 
was  already,  in  several  instances,  being  sadly  enough  verified. 
The  pressure  of  the  iron  hand  of  persecution — which  had  been 
formerly  a  means  of  restraining,  and  so  of  concealing  from  the 
converts  themselves,  much  of  the  natural  corruption  that  was 
in  their  hearts — had  now  been  removed  :  set  free  from  that 
outward  restraint,  and  solicited  by  the  temptations  of  a  world 
wearing  the  mask  of  friendship  to  the  gospel,  carnality  had 
begun  to  break  out,  and  discover  itself  in  various  forms.  The 
enemy  formerly  sought  to  overwhelm  the  little  band  of  wit- 
nesses for  Jesus  with  the  tide  of  open  battle,  and  then  they 
were  in  arms,  and  on  the  watch  ;  but  here  the  enemy  had  re- 
course to  a  diflferent  system  of  tactics.  He  carries  on  his  ope- 
rations covertly,  and  seeks  opportunity  of  snrprisal.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  to  be  wondered  at  that  some  should  be  thrown  ofll 
their  guard,  and  lulled  into  a  false  security. 

"  My  first  conversation  with  one  or  two  of  the  elders  regard- 
ing the  spiritual  condition  of  their  fellow-countrymen  in  Trini- 
dad, created  the  painful  apprehension  that  it  might  be  nedessary 
to  suspend  some  of  the  communicants  from  the  enjoyment  of 
church  privileges.  It  was,  therefore,  no  small  relief  to  find 
afterwards,  at  a  regular  meeting  of  session,  held  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reviewing,  and,  if  necessary,  in  some  instances  of  tem- 
porarily excluding  from,  the  communion-roll,  that  there  had  not 
been  among  the  communicants  any  commission  of  such  open 
sin  as  could  become  matter  of  church-cognizance  and  discipline. 
It  appeared  that  a  spirit  of  carnal  security  and  worldly  confor- 
mity had  been  creeping  over  the  minds  of  some,  and  discov- 
ering itself  in  a  less  circumspect  and  holy  walk,  in  a  diminished 
relish  for  spiritual  exercises,  and  a  greater  levity  of  disposition  ; 
but  there  had  been  no  outbreak  of  flagrant  immorality  or  open 
ungodliness  among  the  communicants. 

"  I  found  it  necessary  to  have  dealings  in  private  with  some 
whose  deportment  had  given  evidence  of  a  falling  off  from  the 
degree  of  spirituality  which  they  had  formerly  exhibited.    One 


252  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   AV.   H.   HEWITSON. 

of  the  individuals  in  question  said,  '  In  Madeira  it  was  not  so 
difficult  as  it  is  here  to  walk  with  God  ;'  and  again,  '  I  had 
some  striking  answers  to  prayer  in  Madeira,  but  here  God  has 
not  given  such  answers  to  my  prayers.'  The  reason  of  this 
lutter  experience  was  obvious.  The  person  referred  to  had 
not  been  offering  up  for  some  time  past  such  earnest  and  be- 
lieving prayers  to  God,  and  had  even  begim  to  be  indifferent 
about  family  worship.  Another,  to  v/hom  the  Word  was  once 
'  sweeter  than  honey  or  the  honey-comb,'  listened  to  what  I 
said  in  regard  to  the  things  of  his  peace,  with  a  painfully  cold 
expression  of  eye,  and  half- averted  countenance.  The  reason 
was,  not  that  he  disliked  the  truth,  but  he  had  become  care- 
less and  unwatchful,  and  so  had  lost  the  blessed  confidence  to- 
ward God  which  he  once  enjoyed.  '  Amidst  the  persecutions 
which  I  suffered  in  Madeira,'  he  said, '  I  had  great  peace  with 
God ;  but  I  have  scarcely  known  what  that  peace  is  since  I 
came  to  Trinidad.' 

"  These  and  similar  facts  are  fitted  to  teach  a  lesson  of  jeal- 
ousy and  watchfulness  over  their  own  spirits  to  believers  in 
Scotland  who  are  subjected  to  the  same  soothing  and  soporific 
influences  of  a  world  outwardly  doing  homage  to  Jesus,  but  in 
reality  '  lying  in  the  wicked  one.'  '  Ephraim,  he  hath  mixed 
himself  among  the  people.  Strangers  have  devoured  his 
strength,  and  he  knoweth  it  not ;  yea,  gray  hairs  are  here  and 
there  upon  him,  yet  he  knoweth  it  not.' 

"Though  a  few  of  the  Portuguese  in  Trinidad  have,  under 
the  powerful  influence  of  new  temptations,  declined  somewhat 
in  spirituality  of  mind,  yet  I  have  discovered  no  good  ground 
for  suspecting  the  sincerity  of  any  whom  I  was  accustomed  to 
regard  in  Madeira  as  having  '  the  things  which  accompany 
salvation.'  A  considerable  number  seem  to  be  truly  desirous 
of  growing  in  grace,  light,  and  hohness.  The  elders  and 
deacons  have  been  faithful  and  exemplary.  Three  of  the  seven 
elders  who  were  ordained  in  Madeira  have  come  to  this  island, 
and  finir  out  of  the  nine  who  were  ordained  to  the  office  of 


STATE   OF   POKTUGUESE.  253 

deacon.  I  found  that  eighty-five — a  very  large  proportion — of 
the  communicants  had  come  to  Trinidad. 

"  Since  coming  here,  I  have  admitted  eight  new  candidates 
for  the  communion,  after  due  examination.  A  considerable 
number  besides  have  applied  to  be  taken  under  examination — 
perhaps  twenty  individuals — some  of  them  well  reported  by 
the  elders,  as  being  consistent  and  exemplary  in  their  lives. 
We  have  had  the  communion  thrice  here,  and  once  at  Arouca, 
a  place  fourteen  miles  distant.  Seventy-five  or  eighty  com- 
municated here  last  Sabbath. 

"  About  three  weeks  ago  an  American  vessel  arrived,  bring- 
ing the  additional  number  of  eighty-eight  Protestant  Portu- 
guese. These  brought  the  intelligence  that  above  one  hun- 
dred more  Protestants  were  preparing  to  follow  them.  Madeira 
is  swept  well-nigh  clean  of  its  choicest  and  worthiest  sons. 
Now,  in  Madeira,  '  a  lily'  is  to  be  found  only  here  and  there 
'  among  the  thorns.'  Still  are  there  a  few  believers  left,  who 
mourn  over  the  desolation  that  reigns  around  them,  and  who, 
did  circumstances  not  forbid,  would  gladly  join  their  brethren 
in  the  land  of  their  exile.  Still  a  very  few  remain  to  hold  up 
there  the  banner  of  the  truth,  and  to  testify  amongst  the  ungodly 
that '  there  is  a  judgment.' 

"  The  people  here,  among  whom  I  am  at  present  preaching 
the  gospel,  have,  since  their  arrival,  suflfered  considerably  from 
the  effects  of  the  climate.  Fever  and  dysentery  have  attacked 
many  ;  and  about  twenty  cases  have  terminated  fatally.  A 
process  of  acclimatizing  is  absolutely  necessary  to  qualify  the 
European  constitution  for  bearing  up,  in  any  kind  of  lab»r  out 
of  dooi-s,  against  the  injurious  operation  of  this  burning  sun, 
and  this  humid  atmosphere.  Comparatively  only  a  small 
number  of  the  Portuguese  are  occupied  in  cane  cultivation. 
Almost  all  the  rest  have,  through  the  gracious  providence  of 
God,  found  employment  in  other  departments  of  industry. 

"  I  have  engaged  one  of  the  elders,  Martinho  da  Sonza,  as 
schoolmaster  for  two  or  three  months,  to  teach  the  Portuguese 


254  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

children  and  adults  who  choose  to  profit  by  the  opportunity  of 
learning  to  read. 

"  On  coming  to  Trinidad,  I  was  sorry  to  find  that  a  number 
of  the  Portuguese  converts,  thirteen  in  all,  had  been  led  to 
embrace,  at  least  in  part,  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  and  to  re- 
ceive immersion.  The  error  was  threatening  to  spread,  schismatic 
contentions  were  being  engendered,  and  outward  observances 
were,  by  the  sleight  of  Satan,  beginning  to  occupy  that  place 
in  the  thoughts  of  some  which  should  be  given  to  the  things 
that  are  of  the  '  spirit  and  life.'  I  found  it  necessary  to  preach 
on  the  subject,  giving  an  exposition  of  what  I  hold  to  be  the  mind 
of  the  Lord,  as  revealed  in  His  word,  in  regard  to  baptism  ; 
and  it  is  matter  of  thankfulness  that  the  progress  of  the  op- 
posite doctrine  has  been  arrested. 

"  Praying  that  you  and  all  our  fellow-laborers,  with  all  saints 
in  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  may  have  abundance  of  grace 
and  blessing  from  our  common  Lord,  I  am.  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 
yours  affectionately  in  gospel  bonds,         W.  H.  Hewitson." 

In  another  letter,  written  ten  days  earlier,  some 
minuter  features  are  brought  out : — 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq.,  Edinburgh. —  ....  Ten 
days  ago  another  band  (eighty-eight  in  all)  of  immigrants — I 
should  rather  say  exiles — from  the  Gadarene  coast  of  Madeira, 
reached  the  shores  of  Trinidad,  and,  under  Britain's  heaven- 
blessed  banner,  they  found  themselves  for  the  first  time  on 
ground  where  they  were  at  liberty  to  hear  God  speaking  His 
Word,  and  to  speak  to  God  in  prayer.  Among  the  number  is 
Maria  Joaquina,  whose  blood  was  once  likely  to  be  poured  into 
the  cup  of  the  drunken  harlot,  Babylon.  Another  was  Philippa 
Rosa,  who,  like  Peter,  denied  her  Lord,  and  in  answer  to  prayer, 

was   like   Peter   again  restored   amidst   floods   of 1  was 

going  to  write  '  tears,'  when  I  was  interrupted,  and  called 
away  to  speak  to  one  of  my  Portuguese  flock,  who,  shedding 
tears,  has  just  told  me  that  she  is  persecuted  in  the  family 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  WORK,  255 

where  she  is  serving — a  Roman  Catholic  family — being  treated 
harshly  for  refusing  to  do  what  involves  a  violation  of  her  duty 
to  God.  '  I  left  Madeira,'  she  has  just  been  saying,  '  that  I 
might  be  able  to  follow  God,  and  for  nothing  else,  and  I  wish 
to  leave  that  family.'  This  is  a  specimen  of  the  avocations 
which  have  occupied  much  of  my  time  since  I  came  here. 
Were  it  not  that  I  got  my  servant,  Jose  Marques — a  great 
and  indispensable  help  to  me  in  my  work — placed  as  a  sentinel 
sometimes  to  receive  the  people  who  come  to  speak  with  me, 
and  to  question  them  about  their  wants,  (fee,  I  could  scarcely 
find  time  for  letter-writing,  even  on  so  small  a  scale.  The 
specimen  here  given  above  of  the  nature  of  a  very  fagging 
portion  of  rdy  labors  shows  that  Popery  has  the  same  Gadarene- 
devil  in  it  here  as  it  had  in  Madeira." 

The  opening  sentences  of  the  following  letter,  tliougli 
somewhat  retrospective,  indicate  an  interesting  little 
feature  of  his  work.  The  two  metrical  translations 
afterwards  grew  into  a  book  of  psalms  and  hymns  for 
the  Portuguese  Ckurch. 

"  To  THE  Rev.  A.  A.  Boxar. — Trinidad,  March  17, 1847. — 
Setting  off  from  Southampton  by  the  steamer  on  the  2d  of 
January,  I  soon  found  myself  lying  sick  in  my  cabin,  and,  unfit 
for  almost  every  other  species  of  efibrt,  drawn  away  insensibly 
by  a  strange  disposition  to  versify  into  Portuguese.  I  en- 
deavored to  turn  this  disposition  of  mind  to  account,  and  the 
result  was  a  metrical  translation  of  the  23d  Psalm,  and  of  your 
sweet  hymn — '  The  Fulness  of  Jesus.'*  These  I  have  got 
printed  for  the  use  of  my  Portuguese  flock  in  pubHc  and  private 
worship.  Last  night,  at  our  ordinary  meeting  for  worship,  we 
sang  part  of  the  '  Plenitude  de  Jesus,'  beginning  with — 

*  Todo  0  meu  vil  peccado 
Ponho,  Jesus,  sobre  Ti : 

*  This  is  a  mistake  ;  the  hymn  was  Mr.  H.  Bonar's. 


256  MEMOIR  CF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Hum  Cordeiro  immaculado 
Padeceste  Tu  por  mi.' 

The  paraphrase  is  so  wide,  owing  to  the  unaccommodating  char- 
acter of  Portuguese  words.  Last  Sabbath  we  had  a  sweet 
and  refreshing  communion.  Seventy-five  or  eighty  encom- 
passed the  Lord's  table,  four  or  five  of  them  for  the  first  time. 
On  the  preceding  Sabbath,  I  was  at  a  place  called  Arouca, 
fourteen  miles  distant,  where  I  preached  the  gospel  to  about 
forty  Portuguese,  and  administered  the  Supper  to  six  of  their 
number.  Several  Madeirans,  who  came  here  Roman  Catholics, 
have  embraced  Protestantism,  and  attend  our  meetings." 

"  March  19. — Yesterday  I  went  to  Santa  Cruz — nine  or  ten 
miles  from  this — in  search  of  Portuguese,  and  found  twenty — 
twelve  Protestants  and  eight  Roman  Catholics.  The  former 
were  all  together  on  the  same  estate ;  and  after  they  had 
finished  their  day's  work,  we  had  worship  together.  It  was  a 
refreshing  meeting.  The  Roman  Catholics  that  I  met  listened 
to  the  Word  of  God  with  apparently  deep  interest.  Working 
in  this  hot  climate  suits  me  ill.  I  scarcely  know  what  it  is  to 
be  free  from  fatigue.  My  health  is  not  so  good  as  when  I  left 
Britain.  But  I  am  glad  that  I  have  come  on  a  visit  to  the 
Portuguese.  My  coming  has  been,  I  truly  believe,  of  the 
Lord. 

"  I  trust  that  your  work  on  our  Lord's  coming  will  ere  long 
be  published.  Many,  in  these  days,  seem  to  be  predisposed  to 
embrace  the  doctrine  of  the  pre-millennial  advent,  and  they 
only  need  to  have  the  subject  placed  before  them  in  the  light 
of  Scripture.  I  find  that  to  say  '  Come  quickly'  is  the  result 
only  of  close  '  walking  with  God.'  Out  of  '  the  light,'  and  of 
communion  with  God,  there  is  not  a  true  and  sincere  longing 
for  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  To  be  a  pre-millenarian  indeed 
requires  habitual  heavenlj^-mindedness,  and  abstraction  of  the 
heart  from  earthly  things.  An  earthly-minded  man  and  a 
pre-millenarian  are  mutually  opposite  and  incongruous.  He 
who  knows  best  what  is  'the  hope  of  God's  calling,' knows  best 


CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY.  257 

also,  and  knows  from  experience,  the  meaning  of  these  words 
— '  Ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.'  " 

The  next  letter  contains  some  solemn  thoughts  on 
the  Christian  ministry,  suggested  by  his  experience 
among  the  Portuguese : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Trinidad,  March  19,  1847. 
—  ....  I  have  not  been  without  grounds  of  encouragement 
and  thankfulness.  I  have  had  misgivings  and  anxieties  in  re- 
gard to  some  who,  on  a  new  field  of  conflict,  have  been  sur- 
prised and  taken  at  a  disadvantage  by  new  expedients  of  the 
adversary.  Grace  is,  nevertheless,  manifestly  working,  and  up- 
holding the  goings  of  God's  people. 

"  The  vessel  which  contains  the  heavenly  treasure  is  truly  'an 
earthen  vessel ;'  but  what  then  ?  It  is  manifest  that '  the  excel- 
lency of  the  power  is  God's,  and  not  of  man.  This  is  what 
we  aim  at,  and  O  to  be  more  direct,  steady,  and  sure  in  our  aim ! 
Man  is  nothing — God  is  everything.  As  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel of  God's  grace,  we  ought  always  to  look  for,  and  surely  ex- 
pect, some  fruit  of  our  ministry.  God  in  Athanasius  against  the 
whole  world — what  shall  He  find  impossible  ?  The  whole  world 
against  God  in  Athanasius — it  will  contend  in  vain.  '  Old  Adam 
is  too  strong  for  young  Melancthon.'  It  is  true ;  but  Imman- 
uel — God  with  us' — is  infinitely  too  strong  for  old  Adam.  When 
a  minister  desponds,  saying,  '  What  can  /  do  V  he  may  well  de- 
spond, for  he  will  do  nothing :  but  when  he  girds  himself  for 
conflict  on  praying  ground,  saying,  '  What  can  the  Lord  not 
do  ?'  he  will  go  forth  '  in  this  his  might,'  and  do  '  all  things.' 
*  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believ- 
eth.'    Omnipotence  pledges  itself  to  faith. 

"  The  world  cannot  stand  before  a  ministry  that  is  strong  in 
the  grace  of  God.  It  can  stand  before  eloquence  in  the  preach- 
er ;  it  can  stand  before  philosophy  and  before  learning  in  the 
preacher ;  but  before  grace  in  the  preacher  it  cannot  stand.   The 


268  MEMOIR  OF  EEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOX, 

sword  of  the  Spirit  in  the  hand  of  faith  tells  at  every  stroke. 
You  cannot  give  faithful  testimony  to  the  world  in  vain ;  the 
effect  will  be  '  unto  death'  in  many ;  it  will  be  '  unto  life'  in  all 
■:vho  shall  be  saved.  O  how  solemn,  how  awful,  the  position 
of  a  minister  of  God  pleading  with — preaching  to — lost  sinners  ! 
He  is  the  Sower's  hand ;  he  is  the  voice  or  mouth  of  God :  he 
is  the  accredited  ambassador  of  Heaven. 

"  After  leaving  this,  if  the  Lord  spare  me  to  do  so,  I  intend 
going  to  St.  Kitt's  and  St.  Vincent's  for  a  short  time.  My  vigor 
is  considerably  less  since  I  recommenced  my  labors  in  a  hot 
climate.  The  thermometer  stands  in  the  shade  during  the  day 
between  80  and  90  degrees.  It  falls  to  between  10  and  80  de- 
grees during  the  night." 

Farther  details  of  his  labors  are  given  in  subsequent 
letters : — 

"To  HIS  Sister. — Trinidad,  March  19,  1847. — -On  Sab- 
bath last  we  had  the  communion  again  here.  It  was  the  most 
refreshing  season  of  the  kind  that  I  have  had  since  I  came  to 
Trinidad.  There  were  a  few  whom  I  had  recently  examined, 
and  who  communicated  for  the  first  time  last  Sabbath,  After 
the  communion  service  was  over,  I  baptized  two  children,  so 
that  we  had  both  sacraments  at  one  diet  of  worship;  One  of 
the  new  communicants,  a  young  woman,  gave,  in  the  course 
of  the  previous  examination,  very  satisfying  evidences  of  heart 
experience  as  well  as  head  knowledge.  She  seemed  clearly  to 
have  discovered  the  corruption  of  her  nature,  the  sinfulness  of 
her  life,  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  blood,  and  the  power  of  Divine 
grace." 

"To  ANOTHER. — Same  date. — Till  Tuesday  last  I  did  not 
deliver  my  message  from  the  Free  Church  to  the  Portuguese 
converts, — I  did  not,  I  mean,  convey  to  them  an  expression  of 
the  Free  Church's  sympathy.  Then,  however,  I  did  so ;  and 
that  they  might  understand  something  about  the  Free  Church, 
I  gave  them  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 


THIRST   FOR  THE   WORD.  259 

down  to  the  present  day  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation, 
When  I  was  giving  an  account  of  the  Disruption,  tears  were 
shed  by  some  of  the  hearers.  A  considerable  number  were 
present,  as  is  usually  the  case  on  Tuesday  evenings.  I  always 
lecture  or  preach  on  Tuesday  evening,  besides  having  two  meet- 
ings every  Lord's  day. 

"  A  Portuguese,  whose  leg  is  in  such  a  state  that  it  is  to  be 
amputated,  and  who  had  come  to  this  island  a  Roman  Catholic, 
has  of  late  manifested  something  like  an  awaking  to  the  dis- 
covery of  his  lost  state,  and  his  need  of  a  Saviour.  So  desir- 
ous was  he  of  hearing  the  Word  more  fully,  that,  at  the  risk 
of  great  injury  to  his  wounded  leg,  he  last  Sabbath  came  a 
distance  of  nearly  a  mile  on  crutches,  and  in  the  same  manner 
returned  home — his  leg  swollen,  but,  as  he  said,  his  soul  re- 
freshed. This  man,  this  poor  Portuguese,  will  rise  up  in  judg- 
ment against  many  who,  instead  of  being  so  anxious  to  hear 
the  Word,  of  God,  neglect  privileges  and  means  of  grace  such 
as  he  never  possessed.  He  will  perhaps  be  found  among 
those  who  take  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  violence,  who  press 
into  it  through  the  midst  of  difficulties,  while  many  pass  by 
the  open  door  of  heaven  without  seeking  to  enter.  The  poor 
Portuguese,  with  all  his  disadvantages,  may  yet  perhaps  be 
admitted  to  the  marriage  supper,  while,  with  all  their  advan- 
tages, many  in  favored  Scotland  are  cast  forth  into  outer  dark- 
ness. The  neglect  of  ordinances  will  perhaps  lead  to  a  with- 
drawal of  ordinances  altogether.  God's  holy  things  have  been 
wofuUy  trodden  under  foot  in  Scotland,  and  His  pearls  despised. 
A  day  of  recompense  is  at  hand." 

"  To  HIS  Parents. — Trinidad,  March  31, 1847. — On  Wed- 
nesday last  week  I  left  this  in  a  gig  at  a  little  after  six  o'clock, 
A.M.,  and,  traveUing  ten  miles,  preached  to  forty  Portuguese  in 
the  open  air,  under  the  shadow  of  a  large  tree.  Afterwards  I 
went  a  distance  of  six  or  seven  miles  more,  and  preached  in  an 
upper  room  to  about  twenty  Portuguese.  Then  returning  four 
or  five  miles,  I  preached  again  in  Mr.  Brodie's  church,  at 


260  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

Arouca,  to  a  number  of  Portuguese,  who  assembled,  after  tlieir 
day's  work,  from  a  distance  of  two  miles.  On  Thursday  morn- 
ing I  was  here  to  breakfast,  having  left  Arouca  pretty  early. 
If  the  Lord  will,  I  shall  be  in  Arouca  again  next  Sabbath,  ad- 
ministering the  communion,  and  preaching  twice. 

"  A  day  or  two  ago  I  heard  that  Signor  Arsenio,  the  Madeira 
gentleman  who  was  appointed  by  the  Free  Church  to  labor 
here  among  his  brethren,  has  at  length  sailed  from  the  Clyde, 
and  is  on  his  way  to  Trinidad.  I  am  glad  and  thankful  for 
this.     I^expect  that  he  will  arrive  here  in  about  a  fortnight. 

"The  cases  of  the  prisoners  in  Madeira  have  at  last  been 
decided.  One  who  was  sentenced  to  five  years'  banishment  has 
had  his  sentence  commuted  into  six  months'  additional  impris- 
onment. Another  has  been  sentenced  to  continue  in  jail  till 
March,  1848.  The  rest  are  probably  now  at  liberty,  and  may 
be  expected  to  arrive  ere  long  in  Trinidad. 

"Last  Sabbath  I  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  here  to 
eighty-four  Portuguese  communicants.  All  present  were  Por- 
tuguese but  myself." 

These  were  no  ordinary  labors.  Most  other  men 
would  have  long  ago  laid  themselves  aside  as  disabled. 
But  with  a  self-forgetting  energy,  and  a  holy  elevation 
of  spirit,  rarely,  if  ever  surpassed,  do  we  find  this 
dear  servant  of  the  Lord  couating  not  his  life  dear 
unto  himself,  so  that  he  might  finish  his  course  with 
joy,  and  the  ministry  which  he  had  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  that  he  might  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God. 

And  the  Lord  did  not  leave  his  labors  without  a 
blessing. 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — Trinidad,  March  31, 1847. 
— Upon  the  whole,  I  may  say,  in  reference  to  the  present  state 


CHURCH  ORGAlflZED.  261 

of  religion  among  the  people  under  my  charge,  that  there  is 
very  much  to  afford  encouragement,  and  to  stir  up  thankfulness 
to  God.  Among  the  unconverted  Protestants  there  is  manifest 
neglect  of  divine  things ;  but  among  those  who  seem  truly  to 
have  *  the  things  which  accompany  salvation'  there  are  at  pres- 
ent evidences  of  a  lively  and  fervent  spirit,  with  much  concern 
about  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  There  have  been  some  cases 
of  backsliding  from  the  first  love  and  the  first  works,  but  even 
in  most  of  these  cases  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  there  has 
been  a  repenting  and  a  remembering  of  the  former  paths. 
For  all  the  good,  praise  be  to  the  God  of  all  grace !" 

"  To  THE  Colonial  Committee. — Trinidad^  April  20, 1847. 
— I  was  gladdened  a  week  or  two  ago  by  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Da 
Silva.  He  was  obliged  to  come  hither  from  Lisbon  by  the  way 
of  Britain.  His  converted  countrymen  rejoice  at  his  presence 
amongst  them  ;  and  I  trust  that,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  resting  both  on  him  and  them,  they  will 
derive  much  good  from  his  labors  amongst  them.  In  the 
course  of  another  fortnight  I  expect  to  be  on  my  way  to  St. 
Vincent. 

"  I  write  in  haste,  not  more  for  want  of  time  than  for  want 
of  strength.  At  present  I  am  exhausted  by  the  fatigues  to 
which  I  have  been  necessarily  subjected." 

Mr.  Hewitson  bade  farewell  to  the  exiles  in  Trini- 
dad in  the  beginning  of  May,  1847.  "  When  I  left 
the  island,"  we  find  him  -writing  afterwards,  "  all  was  - 
satisfactory  and  cheering.  The  refugee-church  is  now 
in  good  order,  and  everything  is  full  of  promise. 
Their  pastor,  Senhor  Arsenio,  is  well  qualified  for  the 
work,  I  mean  especially  by  the  grace  of  God.  He  is 
a  dear  brother  in  the  Lord,  and  a  zealous  minister  of 
the  church  for  the  Lord's  sake.     The  Lord  is  blessins: 


9.62  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

him  beyond  all  his  expectations  with  grace  and 
strength  for  the  work.  Tney  have  the  Lord's  Supper 
once  a  month,  according  to  an  arrangement  made  be- 
fore I  left  them.  Our  dear  brother  Arsenio  seems  to 
have  the  Bible  always  in  his  heart,  and  his  heart  al- 
ways in  heaven.  '  Praise  waiteth  for  thee,  0  Lord,  in 
Sion.' " 

Though  almost  prostrated  by  a  tropical  sun,  he 
visited  St.  Kitt's,  and  preached  there  fourteen  timeSj 
and  twice  administered  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper. 
He  found  in  that  island  about  fifty  members  of  his  ex- 
iled flock.  Before  he  left  them  he  provided  them 
with  regular  ministrations,  having  brought  with  him 
one  of  the  elders  from  Trinidad  for  that  purpose. 

The  reader  may  be  interested  by  a  parting  glimpse 
of  the  exiles.  It  is  given  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Hewitson 
from  the  Eev.  Mr.  Gonsalves,  himself  a  Madeiran,  and 
a  converted  Eomanist,  who  had  been  sent  by  the 
"  American  Christian  Union"  to  the  West  Indies,  to 
arrange  for  their  removal  to  tbe  United  States.  En- 
couraged by  the  generous  sympathy  and  aid  of  the 
American  people,  the  converts  were  already  arriving 
in  successive  groups  in  New  York,  when  a  bereave- 
ment overtook  them  which  touchingly  illustrated  what 
God  had  wrought  among  them.  It  was  the  death  of 
their  beloved  pastor,  Senhor  Arsenio  da  Silva.  Mr 
Gonsalves  thus  writes  : — 

"  Neio  York,  Fchruary  27,  1849. —  ....  I  was  with  our 
iiiuch  beloved  brother  night  and  day  for  two  weeks.     Ilis  doc- 


DEATH   OF  DA  SILVA.  2 60 

tor,  Dr.  Beadle  (one  of  the  most  pious  and  skilful  in  this  city), 
said  it  was  very  important  that  he  should  have  his  medicines 
and  nourishment  with  great  regularity,  as  he  was  in  a  very 
critical  state,  and  also  that  he  should  be  kept  very  quiet ;  so  I 
felt  it  my  duty  to  see  that  all  these  important  rules  were  ob- 
served faithfully.  And  it  was  quite  a  trial,  I  assure  you,  to 
keep  the  weeping  anxious  Portuguese  converts  from  talking  to 
the  afflicted  man  of  God,  their  pastor,  for  they  were  anxious  to 
gather  themselves  around  him,  like  children  around  the  couch 
of  a  dying  parent.  It  was  a  sight  that  might  have  made  an 
angel  weep,  to  see  the  affectionate  tears  rolling  down  the 
checks  of  the  flock,  while  the  pastor  smiled  in  hope  of  the  glory 
of  God,  although  suffering  much  pain  from  the  dreadful  dis- 
ease he  brought  from  Trinidad. 

"  But  all  human  efforts  availed  nothing.  On  the  8th  of 
January  he  was  evidently  near  the  river  of  death.  In  his  last 
prayer  he  remembered  most  affectionately  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  his  precious  flock,  his  wife  and  daughter  and  grand- 
children— prayed  most  earnestly  for  the  conversion  of  his  dear 
wife,  and  that  his  flock  might  not  be  scattered,  and  for  all 
of  them  to  abide  in  Christ  in  the  bonds  of  love. 

"  He  was  very  anxious  to  know  of  the  American  Protestant 
Society,  to  whom  he  wrote  a  letter  some  time  since  from  Trini- 
dad, whether  his  flock  could  have  a  portion  of  good  land  in  the 
United  States  to  cultivate,  very  near  each  other,  where  they 
might  have  a  church  built,  and  schools  for  their  children,  and 
where  they  might,  by  honest  industry,  earn  their  daily  bread, 
and  worship  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  in  spu'it  and  in  truth.  He 
said  he  felt  great  anxiety  especially  for  the  lambs  of  the  flock, 
who  were  mixed  up  in  Trinidad  with  a  low,  vicious,  degraded 
Roman  Catholic  population,  who  were  as  bad,  or  worse,  than 
the  rabble  of  Madeira  ;  and  that,  as  his  people  could  not  get 
lands  in  Trinidad  where  they  might  live  by  themselves,  they 
were  all  anxious  to  remove  to  this  land  of  civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty.   The  Rev.  Mr.  Norton  and  M.  Demotte,  Esq.,  secretaries 


264  MEMOIR   OF   REV.    W.    H.    HEWITSON. 

of  the  American  Protestant  Society,  assured  him  that  lands 
could  be  obtained,  and  that  all  should  be  done  according  to  the 
desire  of  his  heart. 

"  After  this  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  said,  in  a 
spirit  of  sweet  communion  and  great  faith,  'Senhor  Jesus, 
deixaime  caminhar  em  paz  porque  os  mens  olhos  ja  virao  a  tua 
salvacao.'  On  the  10th  of  January  ("Wednesday)  the  doctor 
called  and  said,  '  We  can  do  nothing  more ;  he  will  not  live 
through  the  day.'  Brother  Da  Silva  was  calm,  with  his  eyes 
closed,  during  the  last  three  days.  Sometimes  I  would  speak 
to  him  softly  of  the  great  love  of  Christ,  and  I  would  say  to 
him,  *  Senhor  Ministro,  raeu  caro  Irmao,  conheceme  V  He 
would  say,  '  Sim,  Senhor,  perfeitamente,  Jesus  he  sempre  a 
minha  esperan9a.'  And  although  he  could  not  open  his  eyes, 
yet  the  aflfectionate  tear  of  love  towards  his  dear  Saviour  would 
roll  down  the  emaciated  cheek  of  the  man  of  God. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  brother,  it  was  a  painful,  yet  precious  privi- 
lege, to  witness  so  much  suffering  without  a  murmur — to  see 
one,  rescued  by  grace  from  the  power  of  the  Man  of  Sin  so  re- 
cently, die  like  an  apostle,  full  of  faith,  giving  glory  to  God  ! 
Oh,  what  would  I  have  given  to  have  had  you  and  our  excel- 
lent brother  in  Christ,  Dr.  Kalley,  present,  to  see  how  impor- 
tant were  those  precious  efforts  which  were  made  in  my  poor 
unfortunate  native  land,  to  save  Romanists  from  siu  and  hell ! 
Yes,  all  glory  to  God,  I  hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
all  Portugal,  and  Spain,  and  the  isles,  will  enjoy  the  inestima- 
ble blessings  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  I  say  you  and  dear  Dr. 
Kalley,  because  I  know,  from  conversations  which  I  had  with 
our  now  glorified  happy  brother,  that  you  both  were  particu- 
larly dear  to  him. 

"  On  the  10th  of  January,  at  ten  minutes  before  three  p.m., 
I  knelt  down  with  a  number  of  our  Portuguese  brethren  to 
pray.  Before  I  had  concluded  my  supplication,  the  happy  re- 
deemed spirit  of  our  brother  left  for  the  heavenly  land,  without  a 
struggle  or  a  groan.    It  was  a  happy  death — like  one  falling  asleep. 


PORTUGUESE — NEW   YORK.  265 

"The  funeral  took  place  on  the  r2th,  in  the  Rev.  Dr.  I)e- 
witt's  church,  Fourth  Street.  It  was  a  bitter  cold  day  ;  but 
many  were  present  to  pay  their  respects.  The  weeping  Portu- 
guese felt  hke  Rachel.  The  large  American  audience  also  shed 
tears  of  sympathy  for  the  bereaved  flock.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Nor- 
ton spoke  on  the  occasion  ;  and  I  addressed  the  Portuguese  in 
our  own  language.  The  Rev.  Di-s.  Dewitt  and  Dowling  offered 
prayer ;  and  I  related  something  of  the  happy  death  of  our 
brother,  in  English — of  his  great  confidence  in  Christ  in  the 
last  days  of  his  life. 

"  The  Portuguese  here  are  a  very  devoted  band  of  pilgrims. 
They  love  one  another.  They  search  the  Bible  with  great  dil- 
igence. They  enjoy  a  blessed  prayer-meeting  morning  and  eve- 
ning. Sometimes  eight  or  ten  prayers  will  follow  in  rapid  suc- 
cession.   My  sister and  sister are  very 

active  among  the  females,  encouraging  them  to  every  good 
work.  They  are  what  Paul  would  call '  helpers  in  the  gospel.' 
The  brethren  are  also  faithfiU  in  exhortation.  They  are  all  very 
industrious. 

"  Seldom  a  prayer  is  offered  to  the  throne  of  grace,  from  any 
one  of  the  flock,  that  I  do  not  hear  your  name,  and  that  of  Dr. 
Kalley,  and  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  They  will  need  a 
faithful,  devoted  pastor,  one  well  able  to  instruct  them  in  the 
deep  things  of  God,  and  render  assistance  in  the  education  of 
their  children,  Sabbath  school,  &c.  Can  you,  dear  brother, 
come  to  Illinois  next  fall,  and  take  charge  of  this  interesting, 
precious  flock  ?  I  know  they  all  love  you  as  they  love  their 
own  souls. 

"  It  is  my  wish  that  they  may  remain  attached  to  the  branch 
of  Siou  which  has  been  the  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  God, 
of  doing  so  much  for  them,  and  of  sustaining  their  lamented 
pastor — I  mean  the  noble,  self-sacrificing  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land. I  am  a  missionary,  and  have  been  for  many  years,  in 
the  employ  of  the  American  Protestant  Society.  "We  are  not 
sectarian — we  embrace  all  in  our   fellowship  that  love  the 

12 


266  MEMOIR   OF  EEV.   W.    H.   HEWITSON. 

blessed  Master  and  His  cause,  who  believe  in  tlie  Christ  of 
God.  We  are  not  sent  to  baptize,  or  to  make  Baptists,  but  to 
preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  Our  great  anxiety  is,  that 
precious  souls  should  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  It 
makes  very  little  difference  whether  a  man  is  baptized  with  a 
gallon  of  water  or  with  an  ocean.  If  he  has  not  been  baptized 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  will  sink  to  hell. 

"  When  I  was  in  Trinidad  last  year,  I  was  grieved  to  learn 
that  one  individual  tried  to  introduce  wranglings  and  contro- 
versy. It  gave  our  late  brother  much  pain  of  heart  to  witness 
the  hot  dispute  that  arose  in  consequence,  for  it  led  to  much 
hard  feeling.  But  thank  God  !  the  whole  flock  is  now  perfectly 
united,  and  will  soon,  I  hope,  be  together,  and  be  united  as  one 
bread. 

"  Be  assured,  my  dear  brother,  that  I  shall  do  all  in  my 
power  to  cherish  this  heavenly  spirit  of  love,  union,  sweet  com- 
munion, and  Christian  fellowship.  I  shall  wait  for  another  let- 
ter from  you  with  pleasure,  I  wish  very  much  your  kind  ad- 
vice and  mind  as  regards  our  present  plans.  Accept  much 
love  from  us  all.  Pray  for  us.  And  may  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Israel,  bless  you  and  yours  forever !  Your  un- 
worthy but  affectionate  brother  in  Christ, 

"  M.  J.   GONSALVES." 

At  tlie  time  tliis  letter  readied  him,  Mr.  Hewitson 
was  ministering  to  anotlier  flock ;  but  one  who  was  his 
own  "  son  in  the  faith,"  and  had  nearly  completed  his 
college  training  for  the  ministry,  was  selected  to  be  the 
pastor  of  his  fellow-exiles.  "  The  Lord  seems  now," 
said  Mr.  Hewitson,  one  day  in  his  sick-chamber,  a  few 
months  before  his  death,  "  to  be  making  all  things 
ready  for  my  departure.  I  have  just  received  from 
America  the  gladdening  intelligence  that  the  dear  Por- 


CHURCH  ORGANIZED.  267 

luguese  are  at  length  settled  in  Illinois;  their  new 
pastor  has  arrived  among  them ;  they  are  organized 
into  a  fully-constituted  church;  and  great  grace  is 
upon  them  all." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

1847,  1848. 

Voyage  Home — Conversion  of  a  Sailor — Death  of  Dr  Chalmers — 
Labors — Singular  Holiness — Correspondence — Call  to  Dirleton. 

"  I  NEVER  had  a  voyage  like  tliis,"  was  the  remark 
of  the  captain  of  the  vessel  in  which,  on  the  15th 
July,  1847,  Mr.  Hewitson  reached  the  Clyde.  And 
so,  we  have  been  told,  felt  all  the  ship's  company. 
Not  a  Jonah  had  been  on  board,  fleeing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  but  a  Caleb,  walking  in  the 
light  of  His  face.  Daily  had  they  all  assembled  at  his 
invitation,  morning  and  evening,  to  pray  and  to  hear 
the  Word.  There  was  something,  besides,  about  his 
whole  walk  and  bearing,  which  made  them  feel  that 
one  from  God  was  among  them.  The  Lord  did  not 
leave  His  servant  without  fruit.  One  of  the  sailors 
became  a  marked  trophy  of  grace.  "  I  am  not  in 
want  of  a  closet  to  pray  in,"  said  he  one  day  as  the 
voyage  drew  near  its  termination ;  "  I  can  just  cover 
my  face  in  my  hat  here  at  the  helm,  and  I  am  as  much 
alone  with  God  as  in  a  closet."  The  man  had  sailed 
from  Antigua  a  careless  sinner :  Mr.  Hewitson  now 


CORRESPONDENCE.  269 

rejoiced  over  him  as  another  of  his  many  spiritual 
children. 

And  whence  that  so  impressive  walk  ?  In  a  brief 
note,  written  during  the  voyage,  we  discover  indirect- 
ly its  source : — 

"  To  HIS  Parents. — Atlantic  Ocean,  40  miles  west  of  Cape 
Clear,  July  10,  184*7. — To-day  I  read  Luke  ix.,  as  the  chapter 
for  our  reading  in  fellowship.  It  is  rich  in  truth,  and  full  of 
blessing,  because  full  of  Christ.  Christ  is  the  life,  and  soul> 
and  meaning  of  the  Word  of  God ;  and  if  we  seek  Christ  in 
the  Word,  we  shall  surely  find  Him,  and  have  cause  to  rejoice 
more  than  one  that  findeth  great  spoil.  The  Word  is  the  gold 
mine — Christ  is  the  gold  itself.  The  Word  is  the  well — Christ 
is  the  living  water  that  fills  it  to  the  brim.  Let  him  that 
thirsteth  take  freely." 

On  landing,  a  stroke  fell  upon  him,  by  which  he 
was  deeply  affected.  He  briefly  alludes  to  it  in  a 
letter  from  Dalmellington  : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — July  29,  1847. — Dr.  Chalmers  ! 
The  angels  have  carried  him  away  into  Abraham's  bosom !  I 
did  not  hear  of  it  till  I  reached  Ayr.  Opening  a  book,  1  read 
the  words — '  The  late  Dr.  Chalmers.'  This  was  the  first  an- 
nouncement." 

And  in  another  letter : — 

"  Dr.  Chalmers  !  He  is  among  *  the  spirits  of  the  just 
made  perfect.' " 

Chalmers  he  had  not  only  revered  as  a  master,  but 
loved  as  a  father.     "The  child-like  simplicity,  the 


270  MEMOIR  OF  REV.  W.  H.  HEWITSON. 

saintly  meekness  of  Chalmers,"  he  used  to  say,  "  always 
made  me  feel  at  home  with.  him.  He  relished  spirit- 
ual converse.  He  was  one  of  the  humblest  men  I 
ever  met." 

"  We  are  travellers ;  we  '  go  from  strength  to 
strength'  (no  weakness  in  the  pilgrim-journey  of  those 
who  are  one  with  '  the  mighty  God',)  till  '  every  one 
of  us  in  Sion  appeareth  before  God.' "  So  wrote  a 
fellow-laborer  to  Mr.  Hewitson  respecting  their  mutual 
journeying.  The  words  are  strikingly  descriptive  of 
his  remaining  course. 

For  several  months  he  visited  successively  different 
parts  of  the  country,  preaching  on  Sabbaths  and  week- 
days, and  leaving  in  every  place  the  savor  of  his 
heavenly  walk.  His  letters  indicate  that  growing 
mellowness  which  was  the  characteristic  feature  of  this 
period.    "We  select  a  few  brief  extracts : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dalmellington,  August 
12,  1847. —  ....  I  have  much  -work  before  me,  some  of  it 
not  pleasant  to  my  sluggish  nature  ;  but  the  Lord  can  make 
all  things  pleasant,  if  we  do  them  unto  Him.  Oh,  it  is  a 
sweet  service  the  service  of  the  Lord,  because  His  smiles  are 
sweet — His  very  frowns  are  frowns  of  love  !  He  is  altogether 
*  wonderful,'  and  '  altogether  lovely.'  If  we  be  going  to  spend 
eternity  in  looking  on  His  glory,  surely  we  will  not  grudge  to 
look  often  on  His  glory  during  time.  The  more  we  look  to 
Him,  the  more  blessed  we  are." 

"To  A  Friend  in  England. — Edinburgh,  August  19, 
1847. —  ....  Don't  you  long  to  be  filled  with  the  love  of 
Jesus,  and  to  be  holy  altogether,  as  He  is  holy  ?  The  time  is 
drawing  nigh  when  this  longing  shall  be  satisfied.     We  shall 


CORRESPONDENCE,  271 

eoon  see  His  face.  We  shall  soon  be  with  Him  in  glory  ;  and 
we  shall  be  like  Him  then — free  from  sin — all  spiritual,  all 
pure,  all  heavenly-minded,  Tho  wounded  hands,  we  shall  see 
them  soon  ;  the  pierced  side,  we  shall  soon  behold  it,  and  fall 
down  before  the  Lamb.  Yet  a  little  while,  and  He  will  appear 
in  His  glory.     Let  us  watch  and  be  ready. 

"Tribulation  cannot  separate  you  from  the  love  of  God 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  ;  but  the  love  of  God  will  in 
the  end  separate  you  from  tribulation,  bring  you  out  of  it,  and 
give  you  fulness  of  joy.  Lift  up  your  head,  for  your  redemp- 
tion draweth  nigh.  May  you  be  sealed  till  that  day,  and  have 
the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  continually  in  your  heart.  The  Spirit  of 
Jesus  loves  the  humble  and  broken  heart ;  and  He  abides 
there,  sprinkling  the  blood,  and  creating  peace." 

^^  Edinburgh,  September  29,  1847. — I  wish  you  and  Mrs. 
^—  all  joy.  May  your  journey  towards  *  the  Holy  City'  be 
in  one  respect  like  that  of  the  two  disciples  to  Emmaus.  May 
the  Lord  himself  be  with  you,  and  abide  with  you,  until  your 
journey  be  ended,  and  you  set  up  your  last  Ebenezer  in  Gilgal, 
on  the  other  side  of  Jordan." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Edinburgh,  October  1,  184Y. — 
Have  you  seen  A.  Bonar's  work  on  Prophecy,  entitled,  '  Re- 
demption Drawing  Nigh  V  The  more  I  study  Scripture,  the 
more  am  I  convinced  that  the  Lord  is  at  hand — in  other  words, 
that  His  arrival  must  be  previous  to  the  '  thousand  years.' 
When  He  comes,  may  we  be  found  of  Him  in  peace,  without 
spot,  and  blameless.  We  shall  lose  nothing  by  being  always 
watching  and  always  ready.  Love  is,  in  its  nature,  a  thing  of 
expectation,  and  waiting,  and  longing,  if  the  object  of  it  be 
absent,  and  especially  if  he  have  sent  beforehand  an  intimation, 
*  Behold,  I  come  quickly.'  Love,  catching  at  the  intimation, 
cries  out,  *  Even  so,  come.' " 

Not  in  a  spirit  of  censoriousness,  but  in  real  grief  of 
heart,  we  find  him  lamenting  tlae  low  tone  of  personal 


272  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

godliness  prevailing  around  him,  and  tlie  consequent 
hiding  of  the  Lord's  arm  : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — DahnelUnc/ton,  October  12, 
1847. — I  preached  here  on  Saturday  afternoon,  addressed  the 
communicants  on  Sahbath  at  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and,  the 

same  day,  preached  in  the  evening Strange  it  seems 

that  at  this  time  there  should  be  such  a  restraining  of  grace, 
such  a  general  and  prevailing  drought  over  the  land.  '  Is  my 
Spirit  straitened,  saith  the  Lord  ?'  What  is  it  in  the  church 
that  is  causing  the  Lord's  mai'ked  silence,  and  hindering  the 
Lord's  Word  in  the  midst  of  us  ?  Forgetfulness  among  God's 
people  of  their  heavenly  calling,  and  a  cleaving  of  their  souls 
to  the  dust,  seem  to  be  one  great  hindrance  in  the  way  of  the 
truth.  Men  are  content  with  a  httle  grace  and  a  little  peace, 
but  they  do  not  aim  at  or  desire  glory — they  do  not  long  for 
the  Lord's  appearing — they  do  not  exhibit  much  love  of  home. 
This  is,  no  doubt,  displeasing  to  the  Lord.  There  are  other 
causes  of  displeasure  besides. 

"  Next  week  I  go,  God  willing,  to  preach  in  Salton  for  four 
weeks.  Afterwards  I  hope  to  be  in  Kelso  for  a  week  or  two. 
I  commit  my  way  to  the  Lord." 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Same  date. — If  my  health 
were  perfect  I  should  have  more  frequent  opportunities  of  letter- 
writing  than  I  can  now  command.  The  Lord  sees  good  to 
keep  proud  nature  under,  by  making  bodily  infirmity  subser- 
vient to  the  interests  of  grace.  I  may  truly  say, '  I  had  fainted 
unless  I  had  hoped  to  see  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  the 
land  of  the  living.'  A  time  is  drawing  nigh  when  *  there  shall 
be  no  more  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  any  more  pain,  for  the 
former  things  shall  have  passed  away.'  If  the  enjoyment  of 
comfort  in  the  Lord  make  us  to  abound  in  hope — abundance 
of  hope,  in  its  turn,  conduces  to  the  increase  of  comfort. 

"  Whatever  spiritual  disease  we  labor  under,  the  cause  of  it 
is  invariably,  and  in  every  case,  the  existence  in  our  hearts  of 


CORRESPONDENCE.  273 

some  desire  incompatible  with  the  desire  of  Christ.  The  battle 
will  be  sore,  the  disease  painful,  if  the  desire  of  Christ  be  not 
supreme  and  reigning  within  us.  We  should  search  out  the 
rebel  desire  which  hinders  our  growth  and  straitens  our  goings. 
We  should  seek  to  have  it  laid  low  under  the  heel  of  grace." 

In  the  temporary  absence  of  Mr.  Fairbairn  in  Lon- 
don, Mr.  Hewitson  supplied  bis  pulpit  for  a  month 
with  no  little  profit  to  the  cpngregation.  The  high 
tone  of  his  own  walk  maybe  gathered  from  a  few 
farther  extracts : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Saltan,  November  9, 1847. 
— My  labors  have  been,  though  fatiguing,  not  too  great  for 
my  strength.  In  every  way  the  Lord  has  dealt  bountifully 
with  me.  *  Praise  ye  the  Lord,  for  the  Lord  is  good,  for  His 
mercy  endureth  forever.'  We  do  not  praise  God  according  to 
His  goodness  and  mercy.  Well  may  we  cry  out,  like  Ruther- 
ford, *  O  for  a  harp  !' 

"  There  is  a  sad  want  of  communion  among  the  saints.  The 
live-coals  are  scattered  on  the  hearth  instead  of  being  piled  up 
and  kindled  into  a  glowing  flame.  There  is  all  the  more  need 
of  seeking  close  communion  with  God  Himself. 

"  Do  not  God's  people  walk  in  darkness  because  they  dislike 
the  clear  light,  and  shut  their  eyes  ?  Most  true  it  is  that  we 
cannot  be  walking  in  holiness  if  we  be  not  walking  in  the  light. 
Let  us  welcome,  therefore,  with  gladness,  every  ray  of  divine 
truth.  Nothing  but  sin  can  keep  us  back  from  God  ;  and  even 
sin  cannot  keep  us  back  from  God  when  we  seek  to  draw  near 
truly  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 

"  If  we  do  not  believe  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  in  us,  we 
shall  not  fear  sin  as  we. ought,  and  we  shall  not  triumph  over 
temptation  as  we  might.  We  will  not  give  diligence  to  abstain 
from  everything  that  would  grieve  the  Spirit,  if  we  do  not 
know  that  we  are  sealed  by  the  Spirit  until  the  day  of  redemp- 
12* 


274  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

tion.  To  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God, 
and,  in  particular,  to  know  that  God  has  given  us  His  Spirit, 
is  a  wonderful  help  and  encouragement  in  the  divine  Ufe.  A 
watchful  spirit  is  necessary  in  crucifying  the  flesh.  Watchful- 
ness implies  the  fear  of  evil  and  the  hope  of  good.  Not  to 
fear  wrath,  nor  to  hope  for  glory,  creates  unwatchfulness  and 
feeds  the  flesh. — Your  affectionate  friend, 

«W.  H.  Hewitson." 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Linlithgow,  November  25, 1842. 
— May  the  Lord  be  with  us  to-morrow,  and  make  our  fellow- 
ship exceedingly  sweet  and  edifying !  What  privileges  we 
have  as  God's  children !  We  need  to  exhort  one  another  to 
live,  in  some  measure,  according  to  our  privileges.  It  is  one 
of  our  privileges  to  have  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  hearts,  but  few 
of  God's  people  now-a-days  seem  to  believe  even  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  in  them  at  all.  I  feel  the  effects  of  the  deadness 
which  is  reigning  all  around.  There  is  a  much-to-be-lamented 
want  of  lifelikeness  and  of  spiritual  sensibility  in  the  church  at 
the  present  hour.     O  that  these  brassy  heavens  were  rent !" 

"  To  William  Dickson,  Esq. — Belhaven,  November  26, 
1849. — Next  Sabbath  I  have  promised  to  preach  again  at 
Dirleton,  and  likewise  to  hold  a  prayer-meeting  on  Monday 
evening.  In  Salton  I  was  encouraged  by  knowing  that  thei'e 
were  some  truly  spiritual  people  in  the  congregation,  as  well  as 
by  the  appearance  among  all  of  earnest  attention  to  the  Word. 
We  must  sow  in  faith  ;  and  if  we  do,  we  shall  expect  success. 
We  should  not  only  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  pray  in  the  Spirit, 
but  we  should  likewise  speak  and  declare  the  testimony  of 
God  in  the  Spirit.  '  Who  made  man's  mouth  ?  Have  not  I 
the  Lord  V     The  promise  is  given,  '  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth.' 

"  Abraham  needed  rest  at  Mamre,  or  elsewhere, — he  would 
have  been  brought  low  in  spirit  if  h.e  had  been  wandering 
daily  from  place  to  place.  He  liked  sometimes  to  tarry  where 
he  had  a  fixed  altar  consecrated  to  the  Lord.  In  such  places 
he  enjoyed  lengthened  seasons  of  repose  and  fellowship  with 


SINGULAR  HOLINESS.  275 

his  God.  My  movements,  after  I  return  to  Edinburgh,  I  know 
not  what  they  may  be,  or  whither.  I  too  am  a  wanderer,  a 
stranger  in  every  way  on  the  earth." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — Kelso,  December  14, 1841 . 
— I  purpose  being  with  you  on  Tuesday  next.  On  Thursday 
first,  if  the  Lord  will,  I  go  to  preach  at  Dunse,  and  on  Sabbath 

have  to  preach  for  Mr.  Bonar In  Kelso  I  found  many 

godly  people,  who  are  waiting  foi  the  Lord's  coming.  Our 
hope  is  truly  a  blessed  one,  and  much  to  be  cherished.  It 
has  power,  more  than  anything  else,  to  make  us  feel  that  we 
are  set  down  as  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  and  to  wean  our 
affections  from  the  things  of  this  evil  world.  Anything  that 
keeps  us  near  the  living  person  Christ  Jesus,  transforms  us  into 
His  likeness  ;  and  the  expectation  of  his  advent  is  especially 
fitted  to  have  this  effect." 

"  The  world,"  says  Mr.  Cecil,  "  looks  at  ministers 
out  of  the  pulpit,  to  see  what  they  mean  in  it."  In- 
terpreted by  such  a  commentary,  it  was  not  diflficult 
to  understand  what  Mr.  Hewitson's  preaching  meant. 
The  friend  whom  he  went  to  visit  after  writing  the 
note  last  quoted,  thus  narrates  the  impression  left  by 
his  visit : — 

"  The  holiness  and  heavenliness  of  his  whole  conversation 
were  such  as  to  make  me  feel  that  he  was  more  like  a  being 
come  for  a  time  from  another  world,  to  declare  his  message 
and  return  to  it  again,  than  like  an  ordinary  Christian.  The 
effect  was  to  make  ordinary  Christians  almost  ashamed  of  the 
lowuess  of  their  attainments,  and  their  distance  from  that  purity 
and  devotedness  which  ought  to  fill  us  all.  By  one  individual 
amongst  us,  who  was  reckoned — truly,  I  believe — a  sincere 
Christian,  this  effect  was  felt  so  profoundly,  that  she  was  seized 
with  alarm  that  she  had  never  been  a  Christian  at  all,  but 
had  only  been  mocking  God  with  false  professions." 


276  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.    H.   HEWITSON. 

None  wlio  knew  Mr.  Hewitson  will  deem  this  pic- 
ture overdrawn.  These  pages,  we  are  persuaded, 
will  meet  the  eyes  of  many  throughout  the  church, 
Avbo  trace  to  the  time  when  they  met  Mr.  Hewitson  a 
season  of  new  searching  of  heart,  of  freshened  love, 
of  holier  aspirations. 

If  to  them  Mr.  Hewitson's  loss  has  proved  an  al- 
most irrejDarable  deprivation,  there  are^.  others  to  whom 
it  has  been  a  relief.  Of  the  class  to  whom  we  refer, 
Richard  Baxter  thus  tersely  writes  : — 

"  When  preachers  tell  people  of  a  necessity  of  holiness,  and 
that  without  it  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,  and  yet  remain  un- 
holy themselves,  the  people  will  think  ....  these  are  but 
words  of  course.  As  long  as  men  have  eyes,  as  well  as  ears, 
they  will  think  they  see  your  meaning  as  well  as  hear  it ;  and 
they  are  more  apt  to  believe  their  sight  than  their  hearing, 

as  being  the  more  perfect  sense How  many  a  faithful 

minister,  and  private  man,  is  hated  and  reproached  for  the  sake 
of  such  as  you  !  What  say  the  people  to  them  ?  '  You  are 
so  precise,  and  tell  us  so  much  of  sin,  and  dangers,  and  duty, 
and  make  so  much  stir  about  these  matters,  when  such  or 
such  a  minister,  that  is  as  great  a  scholar  as  you,  and  as  good 
a  preacher  as  you,  will  be  merry  and  jest  with  us,  and  let  us 
alone,  and  never  trouble  himself  or  us  with  such  discourse.' 
This  is  the  very  thoughts  and  talk  of  people,  which  your  neg- 
ligence doth  occasion.  They  will  give  you  leave  to  preach 
against  their  sins  as  much  as  you  will,  and  talk  as  much  for 
godliness  in  the  pulpit,  so  you  xoill  but  let  them  alone  after- 
wards, and  be  friendly  and  merry  with  them  when  you  have 
done,  and  talk  as  they  do,  and  live  as  they,  and  be  indifferent 
with  them  in  your  conscience  and  conversation." 


DIRLETON.  277 

To  sucH  Mr.  Hewitson's  presence  was  distasteful. 
It  was  felt  to  be  a  silent  rebuke. 

Various  vacant  congregations  Avere  turning  their 
eyes  towards  one  wbom  tbe  Master  bad  so  signally 
honored,  desiring  to  have  him  as  their  pastor.  The 
letter  which  follows  indicates  his  singleness  of  heart 
in  waiting  for  the  Lord's  direction  : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Denholm,  December  29,  1847. 
—  ....  The  question  which  you  put  in  connection  with 
Dirleton  I  feel  to  be  an  important  one ;  and  as  you  do  not  re- 
quire a  categorical  declaration  that  I  would  accept  a  call  if  it 
were  given  me,  I  do  not,  after  prayerfully  thinking  on  the  sub- 
ject, experience  any  difficulty  in  giving  to  your  question  what, 
I  gather  from  your  letter,  will  be  a  satisfactory  answer.  I  do 
not  pledge  or  commit  myself  by  any  declaration,  which  cir- 
cumstances might  afterwards  aflford  ground  for  regarding  as 
rash.  My  desire  is  to  be  led  onward  by  the  Lord  in  the  light 
of  present  circumstances,  and  to  walk  no  faster  than  by  these, 
circumstances  the  Lord  seems  to  lead.  At  present,  then,  I 
see  no  reason  for  declining  a  call  from  the  people  of  Dirleton, 
if  they  should  think  fit  to  give  me  a  call  to  be  their  pastor, 

"  Future  circumstances,  such  as  the  call  not  being  an  har- 
monious one,  might  determine  me  to  decUne  it;  but,  mean- 
while, I  cannot  see  that  He  who  has  the  stars  in  His  right 
hand  is  not  pointing  to  Dirleton  as  my  future  place  of  minis- 
try. If  the  Lord  see  that  another  would  be  a  means  of  greater 
good  to  souls  there,  and  that  I  would  be  more  usefully  em- 
ployed in  some'  other  corner  of  His  vineyard,  then  my  prayer 
is,  that  He  may  arrange  things  accordingly. 

"  '  The  time  is  short.''  O  that  we  may  win  souls  to  Christ 
wherever  we  be!  and  win  souls  to  Christ  we  shall,  if  we 
preach  God's  Word  in  God's  way,  and  trusting  in  God's  suffi- 
ciency." 


278  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Meanwhile,  we  find  him  pouring  the  balm  into  the 
hearts  of  bereaved  and  alBElicted  brethren : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Glasgow. — Edinburgh,  January  11, 
1848. — Often  in  Madeira  I  had  sweet  fellowship  in  the  things 
of  the  kingdom  with  you  and  your  dear  sister  who  is  now 
with  the  Lord.  She  has  fallen  asleep.  In  this  way  has  her 
Lord  appointed  for  her  deliverance  from  those  things  which 
shall  come  to  pass.  Her  trials  are  all  past — her  tears  are  all 
wiped  away.  She  is  full  of  joy,  wniting  for  the  resurrection. 
Let  such  thoughts  as  these  wipe  away  tears  from  your  eyes. 
If  you  grieve,  it  will  be  for  yourself,  and  not  for  her.  Her 
grief  is  past — her  joy  is  full.  To  sympathize  with  her,  is  to 
sympathize  with  joy — joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory. 

"  The  words  with  which  the  Lord  would  have  His  bereaved 
and  mourning  people  to  comfort  one  another  are  words  which 
tell  that  those  who  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  God  will  bring 
with  Him  on  that  day.  No  words  of  consolation  are  more 
powerful  than  these.  The  more  that  their  consolatory  power 
is  felt,  the  more  earnest  will  be  the  cry,  '  Come,  Lord  Jesus — 
come  quickly.'  The  cry  of  the  waiting,  the  afflicted  saints, 
does  not  ascend  unheard  or  in  vain.  *  Surely  I  come  quickly,' 
says  the  Lord  ;  and  'He  is  not  slack  concerning  His  promise, 
as  some  men  count  slackness.' 

"Yet  a  very  httle  while,  and  those  who  sit  weeping  by  Ba- 
bel's streams,  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  shall  be  at  home,  and 
forever  with  the  Lord.  It  is  difficult  for  me  now  to  believe 
that  my  Christian  friends  who  sleep  are  really  gone  away. 
They  are  so  near  in  the  Lord.  The  Lord  make  your  tears  a 
blessing  to  your  soul,  and  wipe  them  away  with  His  own 
hand  1" 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Edinburgh,  January  15,  1848. 
—  ....  In  the  vine,  what  can  keep  the  sap  from  circling 
through  the  branches  ?  In  Christ,  what  can  keep  his  life  from 
flowing  into  our  hearts  ?     We  have  only  to  look  to  Jesus,  to 


CONSOLATIONS.  279 

lean  on  Jesus,  and  He  does  all  within  us.  We  have  only  to 
abide  in  His  truth ;  and,  by  the  truth,  He  quickens,  sanctifies, 
strengthens,  comforts.  If  we  look  away  from  Jesus,  we  droop ; 
if  we  look  to  Him,  we  live. 

"'The  time  is  short.'  The  last  and  greatest  Antichrist 
seems  now  on  the  point  of  being  manifested.  The  world  is 
hastening  to  its  crisis.  The  Lord  is  at  hand.  May  we  be 
counted  worthy  to  stand  before  the  presence  of  His  glory  !" 

"To  ANOTHER  Friend  IN  Malta. — Edinburgh,  January 
15,  1848. — Just  about  this  time  last  year  I  visited  you  at  Ma- 
deira, on  my  way  to  Trinidad,  and  now,  writing  to  you  all,  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  making  a  short  call  on  you  at  Malta. 
Great  changes  have  taken  place  since  we  had  so  frequently  the 
opportunity  of  calling  together  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  at 

's  bedside,  or  with  the  dear  persecuted  followers  of  the 

Lamb,  in  some  place  of  secret  meeting.  Mrs.  Walker,  who 
grew  in  Madeira,  and  flourished  like  the  palm-tree,  is  now 
translated  into  the  immediate  presence  of  Jesus.  '  Arise,  let 
us  go  hence.'  The  Lord,  when  arising  and  going  hence,  called 
on  us  to  follow  Him ;  and,  one  by  one,  saints  pass  away  from 
amongst  us.  Oh,  evil  world,  that  seduces  the  affections  and 
alienates  the  love  of  Christ's  blood-ransomed  bride  !  The  blood 
that  is  in  the  Holiest  of  all  is  like  a  seal  set  also  upon  our 
sprinkled  souls,  declaring  that  we  are  of  the  Lord's,  and  no 
more  of  the  world.  We  should  therefore  repel  the  world's 
claims  upon  us,  and  keep  our  hearts  free  and  disengaged  for 
Him  who  has  bought  us  with  His  blood.  So  shall  we  be  glad 
when  the  Lord  comes — ^glad  now  in  the  hope  of  His  coming 
— gladder  then,  when  we  see  Him  as  He  is." 

To  ANOTHER  Friend  IN  Malta. — Edinburgh,  January  15, 
1848. — I  was  glad  to  receive  your  last  letter.  It  breathed  the 
air  of  the  wilderness,  and  sighed  after  the  rest  of  God — after 
the  home  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven. 

"  Even  here  we  have  a  resting-place  with  Jesus.  In  such 
seasons  of  darkness  anJ  trouble,  what  scop€  there  is  for  the 


280  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W,   H.   HEWITSON. 

manifestatioa  of  a  bold,  all-venturing  faith !  To  trust  in  the 
Word  when  you  have  nothing  else  to  encourage  confidence — 
to  trust  in  the  Word  when  everything  else  tends  to  create  de- 
spondency— that  is  faith  in  its  simplicity — faith  in  its  most 
God-glorifying  exercise.  That  faith  is  like  David,  without 
Saul's  armor,  confronting  the  panoplied  giant  of  Gath ;  it  is 
like  Jonathan  and  his  armor-bearers  against  all  the  host  of  the 
Philistines ;  it  is  like  Israel  '  going  forward'  at  God's  command, 
while  yet  no  way  has  been  cut,  by  miracle,  through  the  waters 
of  the  Red  Sea ;  it  is  like  Job,  afflicted  and  oppressed,  and 
ready  to  die,  saying,  '  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in 
Him ;' — to  take  a  nobler  and  more  amazing  exemplification 
still — it  is  like  Jesus,  horror-struck,  desolate,  forsaken  by  God, 
still  crying  aloud,  *  My  God  !  My  God !' 

"  The  Word  of  God  is  the  anchor  of  our  hope — an  anchor 
sure  and  steadfast,  and*  it  entei-s  into  the  Holiest  of  all.  The 
Word  js  the  pole  on  which  Christ  is  lifted  up ;  the  Word  is 
the  glass  which  reflects  Christ's  glory ;  the  Word  is  the  staff 
which  Christ  puts  in  our  hand.  We  know  nothing  of  Christ 
but  what  the  Word  reveals :  Christ's  thoughts  are  not  in  us, 
unless  our  thoughts  be  according  to  the  Word.  When  we 
lean  on  the  Word,  we  lean  truly  on  Christ.  If  the  Word  be 
in  us,  then  we  are  in  the  Father  and  in  the  Son.  To  have  the 
Word  of  God  in  the  hand  of  faith  is  to  have  God — to  have  all 
things.  By-and-by,  when  we  are  in  glory,  and  have  perfect 
knowledge,  we  shall  see  how  exactly  the  Word  glasses  and 
reflects  the  heart  of  God." 

At  length  liis  way  was  opened.  The  congregation 
of  the  Free  Chnrch  of  Scotland  at  Dirleton — a  village 
in  East  Lothian,  about  twenty  miles  from  Edinburgh 
— called  Mr.  Hewitson  to  be  their  pastor.  "  The  call," 
wrote  the  Eev.  Mr,  Thomson,  the  ofl&cial  organ  of  the 
Presbytery,  on  3d  February,   "  is  most  harmonious. 


CALL  TO   DIRLETON.  281 

I  trust  it  is  a  call  from  the  Lord ;  or  rather,  I  may 
say,  is  it  not  plainly  so  ?  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to 
view  it  as  such,  and  give  it  your  hearty  acceptance. 
And  I  rejoice  to  learn  that  your  health  is  so  far  re- 
established as  to  enable  you  to  undertake  a  charge." 
Mr.  Hewitson  writes  : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dalmellington^  February  8, 1848. 
— Since  your  last  arrived,  I  have  had  a  communication  on  the 
same  subject  from  Mr.  Thomson  of  Prestonkirk.  My  mind  is 
very  far  from  being  averse  to  acceptance,  but  truly  I  have  not 
at  this  moment  light  suflSciently  clear  to  make  me  free  from  all 
doubt  as  to  what  the  Lord's  mind  is  in  the  matter.  So  far  as 
consciousness  reveals  to  me  the  secret  things  of  my  own  heart, 
I  am  not  swayed  by  any  consideration  such  as  '  I  would  like 
this,'  or  '  I  would  like  that,'  but  by  a  desire  of  knowing  what 
the  Lord  would  have  me  to  do.  When  I  went  to  Madeira,  I 
did  so  against  the  likings  of  my  own  heart,  but  these  were 
overpowered  by  the  plain  indications  of  the  Lord's  will.  If  I 
go  to  Dirleton,  it  will  not  be  against  my  own  likings,  for  the 
harmoniousness  of  the  call  makes  me  feel  something  like  a 
strong  attachment  to  the  people  from  whom  the  call  has  pro- 
ceeded. Is  it  the  Lord's  will  that  I  should  go  ?  That  question 
settled,  then  my  answer  will  be,  '  Here  am  I,  Lord ;  send 
me.'" 

"To  HIS  Mother. — Edinhurgh, February  IQ,  1848. — Yester- 
day I  went  to  Haddington  Presbytery,  and,  having  fully  made 
up  my  mind  as  to  the  way  in  which  I  should  go,  I  intimated 
my  acceptance  of  the  call.  Thursday,  the  9  th  of  March,  has 
been  fixed  as  the  day  of  induction  ;  and  on  the  Sabbath  fol- 
lowing, if  the  Lord  will,  I  shall  begin  my  labors  as  the  Free 
Church  minister  of  Dirleton.  O  that  it  may  be  made  by 
God,  and  by  the  Lord  Jesui  Christ,  a  blessed  and  fruitful 
ministry  !" 


282  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

The  aspirations  of  his  soul,  as  he  hastened  forward 
to  this  new  scene,  we  gather  from  three  brief  extracts : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Dalmellington^  Fehruary  24, 
1848. — Experience  teaches  me  that  there  is  a  most  intimate 
connection  between  personal  abiding  in  Christ  and  ministerial 
usefulness.  When  the  truth  is  living  in  our  own  spuls,  it  goes 
forth  living  from  our  lips,  and  makes  a  stronger  impression  on 
the  souls  of  others.  Nothing  makes  me  feel  such  inability  to 
preach  or  pray  in  the  congregation  as  being  myself  out  of  com- 
munion with  God.  Communion  with  God  is  what  makes  ser- 
vi5e  sweet  and  easy,  prosperous  and  successful.  It  is  good  to 
long  for  being  jSlIed  with  the  Spirit — it  is  better  to  be  filled. 
When  we  are,  the  Spirit  Himself  preaches  by  us,  and  the  Word 
is  in  divine  demonstration  and  power." 

"  To  the  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dalmellington,  Fehruary  29, 
1848. — If  the  Lord  carry  me  to  Dirleton,  I  shall  enter  on  the 
work  with  much  desire  and  buoyancy,  through  His  good  hand 
upon  me.  The  way  in  which  He  would  have  me  to  go  was 
made  so  plain  before  me,  that  I  could  not  but  see  it. 

"  You  seem  to  have,had  more  recent  intelligence  than  I  re- 
garding France.  Troubles  are  thickening  ;  but  I  am  not  sur- 
prised,— in  the  light  of  prophecy,  I  have  been  for  years  now 
looking  forward  for  thickening  troubles,  *  The  Lord  reigneth.' 
The  floods  lift  up  their  voice,  *  but,'  as  it  is  in  our  sweet  metri- 
cal translation  of  the  Psalms — 

'  But  yet  the  Lord  that  is  on  high 

Is  more  of  might  by  far 
Than  noise  of  mighty  waters  is, 

Or  great  sea-billows  are.' " 

"  To  William  Diceson,  Esq. — Dalmellington,  March  1, 
1848. — At  present  I  am  weak,  in  consequence  of  a  lingering 
influenza.  I  trust  that  the  Lord  will  be  pleased  to  strengthen 
me  for  my  prospective  labors. 


CALL  TO   DIRLETON.  283 

"  All  things  portend  change  on  an  unparalleled  scale,  and 
disaster  such  as  never  yet  has  been  witnessed  in  any  age,  as 
being  near  at  hand  to  this  evil  world.  Now  or  never  must  souls 
be  won  to  Christ.  The  door  of  the  Ark  will  soon  be  shut  by 
the  hand  of  God." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

1848,  1849. 

Ministry  at  Dirleton — Method  of  Preaching — Na-w  Scene  of  Labor 
— Expectation  of  Success — Prayers  and  Pains — Communions — Speci- 
men of  Ministrations — Simplicity  of  his  Faith — Trials  and  Conso- 
lations— Characteristics — Conversation. 

"  He  wlio  would  do  some  great  thing  in  this  short 
life,"  writes  Mr.  Foster,  "  must  apply  himself  to  the 
work  with  such  a  concentration  of  his  forces  as  to  idle 
spectators,  who  live  only  to  amuse  themselves,  looks 
like  insanity."  Above  and  beyond  all  other  men  is  he 
who  "  concentrates  his  forces"  on  the  work  of  winning 
souls  pronounced  by  the  world  to  be  "  beside  him- 
self" "  But  he,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  that  winneth  souls 
is  wise." 

As  Mr.  Hewitson  grew  in  likeness  to  the  Lord  Je- 
sus, he  grew  in  the  intensity  of  his  longings  for  the 
salvation  of  perishing  sinners,  "  in  Christ's  stead"  be- 
seeching them  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  In  immediate 
anticipation  of  his  settlement  at  Dirleton,  we  find  him 
writing : — 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Of  all  men  the  minister  should 
be  most  like  Jesus,  in  bowels  of  compassion  towards  souls,  in 


METHOD  OF  PEEACHING.  285 

travailing  for  their  deliverance  from  death,  and  n  consuming 
zeal  of  the  Father's  house.  The  more  Christ-like  that  we  are 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  the  more  Christ-like  shall  we  be  in 
having  souls  for  our  crown  and  joy  on  that  day." 

And  in  the  sequel  of  the  same  letter  hie  indicates  the 
method  of  his  ministry.  The  words  are  weighty,  and 
deserve  to  be  pondered : — 

"  A  free,  full  gospel — pure  objective  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus 
— that  is  what  we  are  bound  to  exhibit  with  all  fidelity  and 
plainness  :  the  Spirit  of  God  working  all  subjective  experience 
of  the  power  of  that  objective  truth — that  is,  what  we  are  to 
trust  in  exclusively  for  success.  The  keen  edge  of  the  Word, 
and  the  Spirit  striking  it  home  in  the  hearts  of  the  hearers — 
the  former  is  our  weapon,  the  latter  our  strength." 

The  distinction  here  drawn  was  felt  by  Mr.  Hewit- 
son  to  be  of  great  moment.  It  is  often  thought  that, 
because  conversion  work  is  divine,  therefore  it  must 
be  complicated.  Mr.  Hewitson  had  been  taught  that, 
just  because  it  is  divine,  it  is  accomplished,  like  all 
other  works  of  God,  by  the  simplest  means.  The 
means  is  the  exhibition  of  Christ.  "Waiting  on  the 
Spirit  reverentially  and  trustfully  for  His  almighty 
working,  he  held  up  before  the  sinner  the  "  pure  ob- 
jective truth."  The  Spirit  glorifies  Christ,  not  our 
faith.  Mr.  Hewitson  sought,  therefore,  to  exhibit,  not 
faith,  not  anything  in  us,  but  Christ,  God  in  Christ. 
The  truth  about  Christ  was  his  weapon :  the  Spirit 
was  the  arm  which  wields  it. 

On  the  9th  of  March  he  was  inducted  into  his  pas- 


286  MEMOIR  OF  KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

toral  charge.    He  tlius  briefly  describes  his  feelings  on 
the  occasion : — 

"  The  season  was  to  me  one  of  great  solemnity,  and  I  had  a 
most  comfortable  sense  of  the  Lord's  presence.  I  desired  to  be 
inducted  by  '  the  good  Shepherd'  himself,  and  I  felt  that  He 
was  indeed  with  me." 

And  again : — 

"  Thursday  was  to  me  a  day  of  very  groat  enlargement,  and 
sweet  fellowship  with  the  Lord." 

On  the  following  Sabbath,  after  being  introduced  by- 
Mr.  Moody  Stuart,  he  began  his  ministrations  with  a 
sermon  on  the  text,  "  I  determined  not  to  know  any- 
thing among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  cruci- 
fied." The  text  was  the  key-note  of  his  ministry  and 
of  his  life.  In  the  pulpit  and  in  the  social  meeting, 
in  the  sick-chamber  and  in  the  incidental  conversation, 
in  the  house  and  by  the  wayside,  his  one  theme  was 
Christ. 

Great  was  the  joy  of  Neff  when  God  shone  into  the 
hearts  of  the  benighted  Eomanists  of  the  Alps.  But 
greater  was  his  joy  when,  in  settled  congregations,  the 
same  Lord  owned  his  ministrations  by  the  conversion 
of  the  "  outwardly  moral  and  devout;"  for  this,  he 
tells  us,  he  regarded  as  a  "  more  striking  demonstration 
of  the  power  of  God."  Mr.  Hewitson,  like  the  Alpine 
pastor,  has  not  labored  in  vain,  among  the  poor  vic- 
tims of  Eome,  in  Madeira.  Now  transferred  to  a  scene 
where  all  is  "  outwardly  moral  and  devout,"  he  is 


MINISTEY  AT  DIRLETON.  287 

summoned  to  a  work  of  even  liiglier  faitli.  Shall  lie 
find,  liere  also,  tliat  the  Word  is  "  able  to  save  the 
soul?" 

The  record  of  a  silent  Sabbath,  spent  elsewhere  to 
recruit  his  exhausted  frame,  indicates  how  carefully  he 
continued  to  keep  his  own  vineyard : — 

"To  HIS  Mother. — Linlithgoiv,  March  20,  1848. —  .... 
Yesterday  I  communicated  in  Mr.  B.'s  church,  but  did  no  min- 
isterial work  whatever.  The  season  was  to  me  a  very  refresh- 
ing one,  and  the  Lord  was  sensibly  present :  the  Lord  was  at 
His  table.  Always  when  I  go  to  the  church  seeking  Christ 
Himself  there,  and,  as  it  were,  to  keep  tryst  with  Him — always 
when  I  go  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  Christ,  and 
having  intercourse  with  Him — I  experience  sweetness  in  the 
ordinances  of  His  house,  and  have  reason  to  return  with  the 
voice  of  thanksgiving. 

"  We  fail  of  being  blessed  in  family  worship  and  in  public 
worship,  if  we  do  not  seek,  while  so  engaged,  to  meet  with  Je- 
sus, and  to  enjoy  His  Word  and  fellowship  in  the  exercise  of 
faith  and  love.  It  is  Christ  in  the  Word,  and  in  all  the  ordi- 
nances of  worship,  that  makes  them  refreshing  and  quickening 
to  our  souls.  Religion  is  not  a  form,  but  a  life ;  and  it  is  not 
a  solitary,  friendless  life,  but  a  life  of  intercourse  and  company- 
keeping  with  God  in  Christ.  To  be  religious,  is  to  be  the 
friends  of  God — to  realize  a  sense  of  His  presence,  love,  and 
favor — to  acknowledge  Him  as  a  living  person  who  is  always 
near  us,  always  ready  to  bless  us,  and  always  looking  to  us  for 
a  living  obedience. 

"  This  is  our  time  of  education  for  heaven — these  are  our 
school-days ;  and,  alas  !  how  many  who  profess  to  believe, 
and  to  look  for  eternal  life,  neglect  their  soul's  education,  and 
play  the  truant's  part,  instead  of  attending  the  school  of  God ! 
Time  is  near  its  end — eternity  is  at  the  door.     0  to  be  ready 


288  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   '^T.   H.   HEWITSON. 

— all  ready !     For  many  will  mourn  and  weep  when  the  time 
to  make  ready  is  past  forever ! 

"  Next  Sabbath,  God  willing,  I  shall  be  in  the  pulpit  myself. 
Till  the  house  be  ready,  I  go  into  lodgings.  I  intend  to  leave 
Edinburgh  on  Friday  or  Saturday,  and  afterwards  remain  with 
my  people.  My  health  is  not  worse — strength  returning,  but 
slowly." 

From  the  outset,  Mr.  Hewitson  looked  for  the 
quickening  power  of  God  among  his  people. 

Unlike  the  scene  of  the  labors  of  Nefif,  the  scene 
around  Mm  had  every  outward  charm.  He  thus  de- 
scribes it : — 

"  Dirleton  is  the  most  beautiful  village  in  Scotland.  The 
houses  are  almost  picturesque — all  clean,  both  without  and 
within.  The  ruinous  '  castle  of  Dirleton'  is  a  romantic  object. 
Berwick- Law  lifts  its  conical  bulk  at  a  distance  of  three  miles, 
and  a  little  out  from  shore  rises  the  memorable  Bass." 

But  he  adds : — 

"  Physically  verdant  and  beautiful,  my  field  of  labor  is  spir- 
itually a  wilderness,  with  here  and  there  a  fresh  spot,  adorned 
by  a  single  *  lily.'  The  lilies  are  few,  very  few  ;  but  still  there 
are  some,  or  the  sense  of  desolation  would  be  intolerable.  The 
soil  cries  out  to  heaven  for  rain." 

"  Nothing  satisfied  Nefij"  says  his  biographer,  "  but 
clear  signs  of  spiritual  life."  Mr.  Hewitson's  standard 
was  not  less  decided : — 

"  The  only  thing  now  beautiful  in  this  sin-stained  world  is, 
love  to  Jesus.  How  the  heart  of  the  believer  burns  within 
him  when  be  hears  expressions,  or  sees  evidences,  of  love  to 


EXPECTATION   OF   SUCCESS.  289 

the  Lord  !  Where  there  is  not  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  I  tind 
nothing — thanks  to  the  grace  of  God — which  I  can  contemplate 
with  satisfaction,  or  with  which  I  can  sympathize." 

But  Mr.  Hewitsou  was  no  sentimentalist,  looking  for 
extraordinary  results  without  the  use  of  extraordinary 
means.  "  I  have  often  thought,"  wrote  Dr.  Payson  to 
a  missionary  in  the  East,  "  that  every  minister,  and 
especially  every  missionary,  ought  frequently  to  read, 
or  at  least  call  to  mind,  Foster's  Essay  on  the  epithet 
Eomantic.  If  you  have  not  his  essays  at  hand,  you 
may  perhaps  recollect  some  of  his  concluding  remarks. 
After  showing  that  it  is  highly  romantic  to  expect  ex- 
traordinary success  from  ordinary  means,  he  adds 
words  to  this  eifect :  The  individual  who  should  sol- 
emnly resolve  to  try  the  best  and  last  possible  efficacy 
of  prayer,  and  unalterably  determine  that  Heaven 
should  not  withhold  a  single  influence  which  the  ut- 
most effort  of  persevering  prayer  could  bring  down, 
would  probably  find  himself  become  a  much  more  suc- 
cessful agent  in  his  little  sphere.  Yery  few  mission- 
aries, since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  probably,  have 
tried  the  experiment.  He  who  shall  make  the  first 
trial  will,  I  believe,  effect  wonders."  Mr.  Hewitson 
was  not  romantic.  "Prayers  and  pains"  God  had 
joined.     These  he  did  not  put  asunder. 

"  Though  enfeebled  in  frame  and  in  constitution,"  writes  Mr. 
Dodds,  now  his  neighbor  and  co-presbyter,  "  no  sooner  had  he 
entered  on  his  new  sphere  than  he  set  about  his  ministerial 
work  with  all  energy  and  fidelity.     Conscious  that  his  ministry 

13 


290         :\iE:uuiu  of  kev.  w,  u.  iiEwnaox, 

was  a  precarious,  and  would  probably  be  a  brief  one,  he  la- 
bored with  all  the  more  diligence,  and  with  a  perseverance 
greater  than  his  exhausted  strength  could  bear.  His  labors  in 
the  pulpit,  in  the  prayer-meeting,  in  the  instruction  of  the 
young,  in  visiting  the  sick  and  other  members  af  his  flock,  and 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  member  of  presbytery,  were 
as  abundant,  sustained,  and  various,  as  those  of  the  most  vig- 
orous and  zealous  of  his  brethren  could  possibly  be.  In  the 
fervor  of  his  zeal,  in  his  love  of  souls,  in  his  strong  desire  to 
see  a  revival  among  his  flock  at  Dirleton,  he  seemed  to  forget, 
or  deliberately  to  disregard,  his  extreme  bodily  weakness  and 
exhaustion.  In  him  the  spirit,  as  I  often  thought,  seemed  to 
triumph  over  the  feebleness  of  the  flesh.  He  accomplished 
toils,  weekly,  and  almost  daily,  which  well  might  have  tasked 
the  energies  of  the  strongest  man." 

A  few  extracts  will  show  liow,  by  "  prayers  and 
pains,"  lie  took  heed  to  liis  ministry  that  he  might  ful- 
fill it:— 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  M'Clymont. — Uirlelon,  April  i).  1848. 
— The  case  of  the  man  that  you  spoke  of  is  interesting.    May 

you  have  many  such  in  D !  and  pray  that  I  may  have 

many  such  at  Dirleton.  O  for  a  time  of  rain  !  0  that  souls 
would  awake  !  There  is  here,  as  well  as  there,  great  need  of 
a  revival.  The  congregation  yesterday  was  about  four  hundred. 
They  lie  over  a  circle  of  territory  of  about  six  miles  diameter  ; 
the  church,  which  is  in  the  village,  being  in  the  centre  of  the 
circle.  I  have  found  two  or  three  godly  people,  who  pray  for 
blessing  on  the  people  around." 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dirleton,  April  3,  I8i8. 
— As  yet  I  have  had  much  pleasure  in  visiting  and  speaking 
with  my  people.  Intercourse  with  them  is  made  exceedingly 
more  interesting,  by  the  fact,  that  they  are  mi/  people,  and  that 
I  am  their  pastor.     On  Thursday  next  I  intend  to  bogiii  a 


MINISTEEIAL   LABORS.  291 

weekly  prayer-meeting.  In  this  place  the  attendance  cannot 
be  numerous,  but  a  few  can  pray  together  as  prevalently  as 
many,  and  many  can  be  blessed  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  a 
few.  The  Sabbath-school  is  going  to  be  well  furnished  with 
teachers.  The  children  attending  are  about  thirty  in  number. 
We  must  throw  in  our  net,  and  catch  more. 

"  Trouble  thickens  in  the  earth.  Darkness  deepens  over  the 
nations.  The  blood  is  feverish  in  the  veins  of  this  evil  world. 
'  He  that  shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry.'  *  To  them 
that  look  for  Him  shall  He  appear  the  second  time  without  sin 
unto  salvation.'  '  Blessed  are  they  that  wait  for  Him  :'  '  their 
expectation  shall  not  perish.'  It  is  well  to  be  keeping  our  gar- 
ments, and  watching, — well  to  be  daily  '  washing  our  robes, 
and  making  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.'  Your 
brother  in  the  Lord,  "W.  Hewitson." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Dirleton,  April  4,  1848. — 
....  The  communion  here  is,  God  wiHing,  to  take  place  next 
Sabbath  week.  Can  you  be  with  me  on  that  day  ?  Try.  .  . 
.  .  For  two  Sabbaths  past  I  have  preached  without  over-fatigue. 
My  strength  is  gradually  returning. 

"  Events  are  crowding  themselves  now  into  weeks,  instead  of 
spreading  themselves,  as  formerly,  over  centuries.  The  main- 
spring of  the  world's  movements  has  got  free  from  restraint, 
and  is  unwinding  itself  with  fearful  speed.  The  round  of  this 
evil  world's  history  will  very  soon  be  completed.  *  What 
manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and 
godliness  1'  What  manner  of  ministers  ought  we  to  be ! 
The  Lord  is  at  hand.     Your  very  affectionate  brother, 

"W.  H." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dirleton,  April  7,  1848. —  .  . 
,  .  Last  night  I  began  a  weekly  prayer-meeting,  and  the  at- 
tendance was  considerably  more  numerous  than  I  had  anticipa- 
ted. 0  that  '  the  Word  may  run,  and  be  glorified  !'  To  look 
from  the  pulpit  on  an  assembly  of  men  who  ere  long  will  be 
either  in  heaven  or  in  hell,  with  anything  like  interest  in  their 


292  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   U.   HEWITSON. 

eternal  well-being,  is  fitted  deeply  to  solemnize  the  heart,  and, 
■while  it  increases  the  sense  of  ministerial  responsibility,  to 
bring  into  action  motives  of  a  more  generous  character  than 
those  which  a  mere  sense  of  responsibility  supplies.  Your 
own  experience  tells  you  what  I  mean.  Your  own  heart  has 
taught  it  to  your  intellect,  and  the  grace  of  God  has  taught  it 
to  your  heart." 

In  the  weekly  prayer-meeting  lie  always  took  pe- 
culiar delight.  It  was  attended,  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  ministry,  by  about  seventy  or  eighty  peo- 
ple, many  travelling  a  considerable  distance  after  the 
day's  toil.  He  regularly  prepared  himself  for  its 
exercises,  delivering  several  courses  of  lectures  in  suc- 
cession. One  of  these  courses — on  the  types  of  Christ 
— was  felt  to  be  singularly  instructive  and  refreshing. 
The  prayer-meeting  was  not  unfrequently  the  scene  of 
the  Lord's  manifested  presence. 

In  the  next  letter  we  have  some  details  of  his  min- 
isterial work : — 

"To  ms  SiSTEK. — Dirleton,  April  10,  1848. —  .... 
My  strength  is,  I  think,  still  on  the  increase  ;  but  the  exertions 
of  yesterday,  which  were  sustained  for  nearly  five  successive 
hours,  have  left  me  much  fatigued.  Yesterday  I  fenced  the 
communion-table,  preparatory  to  the  solemn  service  of  next 
Sabbath.  On  Thursday  evening  last  the  attendance  at  the 
prayer-meeting  was  about  eighty.  0  that  the  Lord,  the  Spirit, 
may  draw  many  hearts  here  out  unto  Jesus  !  It  is  a  serious 
question  for  you  and  me,  and  each  of  us,  '  Am  I  prepared  to 
meet  the  Lord  V  How  could  we  stand  in  His  presence,  or 
look  Him  in  the  face,  if  we  had  neglected  the  great  salvation  ? 
Delay  hardens  the  heart.  The  thoughtlessness  of  to-day  begets 
the  equal  or  greater  thoughtlessness   of  to-morrow,  and  so 


COMMUNIONS.  293 

hands  down  the  sinner  into  a  lost  eternity !     Now  is  the  ac- 
ceptable time." 

It  will  be  observed  that  lie  fenced  the  communion- 
table on  the  Sabbatb  preceding.  This  was  his  regular 
practice.  "I  have  often  wondered,"  was  his  remark 
one  day  to  a  parishioner  who  had  been  adverting  to 
the  change,  "  that  ministers  do  not  see  the  impropriety 
of  fencing  the  table  after  tokens  have  been  given,  and 
the  tables  are  filled.  Many  might  feel  they  were  not 
worthy  or  prepared  to  sit  down  with  the  Lord  Jesus ; 
but,  being  at  the  table,  pride  and  shame  might  keep 
them  from  rising  or  returning  their  tokens.'' 

Another  feature  of  his  communions  may  be  here 
noted.  He  never  had  communicants'  classes.  Though 
he  held  and  greatly  valued  Bible-classes,  he  never  al- 
lowed them  to  be  considered  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the 
table.  As  the  communion  approached — perhaps  at 
the  distance  of  four  or  five  weeks — he  invited  any 
who  thought  they  had  tasted  the  grace  of  God  to  visit 
him  at  his  house  on  a  particular  day.  The  first  ques- 
tion he  put  on  such  occasions  was,  "  What  is  your 
reason  for  wishing  to  go  to  the  table?"  The  nature 
and  tone  of  the  reply  usually  indicated  how  matters 
stood.  He  regarded  the  opportunities  of  private  and 
personal  dealing  thus  afforded,  as  one  of  the  most 
precious  privileges  of  his  ministry.  Not  a  few,  we 
have  reason  to  know,  owe  to  these  seasons  the  search- 
ing which  awakened  them,  or  the  setting  of  their  feet 
upon  the  Kock. 


294  MEMOIR  OF  REV,    W.   H.   IIEWITSOX. 

His  first  communion  at  Dirleton  is  furtlier  noticed 
by  him  tlius  : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Dirleton,  April  13,  1848. — 
....  There  will  be  tliree  table-services  altogethei*,  and  an 
afternoon  meeting  for  worsbip.  How  needful  what  you  write 
about — a  melting  tenderness  of  heart !  That  we  may  think  as 
Christ  thinks,  and  feel  as  Christ  feels,  is  an  important  prayer. 
The  Spirit,  who  searches  the  heart  and  mind  of  Christ,  can 
shape  ours  according  to  the  Divine  model.  As  ministers,  we 
should  not  rest  without  having  a  large  degree  of  likeness  to 
the  Lord." 

"To  HIS  Father. — Dirleton,  April  17,  1848. —  .  .  .  . 
Yesterday  we  had  a  full,  or  very  nearly  full,  church,  and  the 
season  was  exceedingly  solemn  outwardly.  I  trust  that  in 
many  cases  the  inward  experience  was  of  a  suitable  kind,  and 
that  the  Lord  was  working  with  power  in  many  hearts.  His 
own  believing  people  seemed  to  be  glad.  We  were  in  from 
half-past  eleven  a.  m.,  till  half-past  four  p.  m.,  and  afterwards 
from  half-past  five  till,  I  think,  nearly  half-past  seven.  I  am 
fatigued  this  morning,  but  have  great  cause  to  be  thankful  to 
the  Lord  for  all  the  good  which  he  yesterday  made  to  pass 
before  me." 

"We  well  remember  tbat  day.  It  was  a  season  of 
refresbing  from  tbe  presence  of  tbe  Lord.  Sitting  in 
bis  own  room,  after  tbe  protracted  services  were  over, 
be  said,  witb  tbat  boly,  calm  solemnity  wbicb  so  ba- 
bitually  cbaracterized  bim,  not  only  in  tbe  pulpit  and 
at  tbe  communion-table,  but  in  society  and  at  bis  own 
fireside :  "  Ob  for  an  immortal,  a  spiritual  body, 
wbicb  sbould  never  grow  weary  in  serving  our  glorious 
Lord  r     And,  as  if  taking  to  tbe  Master's  feet  all  tbo 


MINISTRATIONS.  295 

services  of  tlie  day,  and  telling  Him,  like  the  disciples, 
all  that  he  had  done  and  taught,  he  added,  with  an 
air  of  mingled  confidence  and  awe,  "Lord  Jesus! 
what  thinkest  thou  of  this  day's  work  ?  hast  thou 
been  seeing  of  the  travail  of  thy  soul '?" 

The  tone  of  his  ministrations  at  this  period  may  be 
gathered  from  a  few  brief  paragraphs  occurring  in  his 
letters.  The  clear  presentation  of  Christ,  the  search- 
ing discrimination,  the  importunate  urgency,  the  melt- 
ing tenderness,  which  marked  his  pulpit  appeals,  are 
here  slightly  indicated : — 

"To  HIS  Father, — Ap-il  17,  1848. — '  Christ  our  passover 
is  sacrificed  for  us.'  Am  I  a  blood-sprinkled  dwelling  ?  Is  the 
blood  of  Christ  really  on  my  soul  ?  Have  I  peace  with  God 
through  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  Have  I  no  false  peace,  that  is, 
no  peace  but  that  which  the  blood  of  Christ  gives  to  my  guilty 
soul  ?  Do  I  see  and  feel  that  the  blood  of  Christ  destroys 
guilt,  even  as  stubble  is  destroyed  by  the  flaming  fire  ?  Do  I 
know  that  the  blood  of  Christ  has  extinguished  the  flames  of 
hell  that  were  kindled  for  me  ;  or  are  these  flames,  in  conse- 
quence of  my  unbelief,  still  burning  ? 

"Serious  questions!  and  we  should  put  them  seriously  to 
our  souls.  If  I  have  not  interest  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  the 
sinner's  Substitute,  then  my  blood  must  be  shed — the  blood  of 
my  body  and  of  my  soul  must  be  shed  forever.  Oh !  noth- 
ing but  blood  can  atone  for  sin ;  either  my  own  blood  in  hell, 
or  the  blood  of  Christ  crucified,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

"  What  need  of  being  in  earnest !  I  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come, — my  dear  father,  flee  with  me  to  the  blood  of  Christ — 
come  with  me  into  the  blood-sprinkled  dwelling.  You  will  be 
safe  there ;  but  without  there  is  no  safety.  The  storm  is 
lowering,  the  flames  are  burning,  the  wrath  of  God  is  coming ; 


296  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   IIEWITSON. 

,iut  here  is  an  open  door,  sprinkled  with  blood — come  in  fast ; 
hero  is  a  cleft  in  the  rock — come  and  hide  here  ;  there  is  yet 
room  in  the  wounded  heart  of  Jesus — room  for  you,  room  for 
dear  mother,  room  for  all  the  rest.  Oh,  come  in — come  in  all ! 
Let  us  all  hide  in  the  bleeding  Saviour,  till  the  indignation, 
which  is  coming,  be  overpast." 

And  again : — 

" '  Damned,'  '  lost' — these  are  God's  words ;  and,  oh  !  who 
can  fathom  all  the  depths  of  horror,  and  despair,  and  woe,  that 
they  mean  ?  When  a  sinner  is  dragged  to  hell,  with  these  words, 
'  damned,'  'lost,'  written  upon  his  forehead,  who  can  tell  the  mil- 
lionth part  of  the  pang  of  anguish  that  pierces  him  through  and 
through,  and  that  is  doomed  to  pierce  him  through  and  through 
forever  ?  Oh !  '  who  can  dwell  with  ^everlasting  burning  ?'  Who 
can  endure  the  wrath  of  God,  who  'is  a  consuming  fire  V  Sin, 
loved  and  cherished,  kindles  '  a  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched' 
— breeds  '  a  worm  that  shall  never  die.'  Sinners  little  dream, 
amidst  their  sins,  that  it  is  what  the  Scripture  of  truth  declares 
it  to  be — '  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Hving 
God.' 

"  0  to  have  the  ear  open  to  hear  God  swearing,  in  His  love 
to  sinners, '  As  I  live,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  a  sin- 
ner ;'  that  is,  of  any  sinner ! — to  have  the  eye  open  to  see  God, 
in  His  love  and  pity,  long  putting  ofi"  the  day  of  wrath,  and 
day  after  day  stretching  forth  His  arms  to  embrace  believing 
and  repenting  sinners !  '  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave 
His  only-begotten  Son.'  Such  love  would  melt  the  heart  of 
sinners ;  but  sin  hardens  their  hearts,  and  they  despise  God's 
love ;  they  lift  up  the  heel  against  the  bowels  of  His  infinite 
compassion.  What  hard  hearts  even  true  followers  of  Jesus 
have,  or  they  would  live  in  daily,  in  hourly  wonder  and  amaze- 
ment at  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus ! 

"  It  is  awful  to  be  insensible  of  our  lost  and  ruined  state  by 
nature  and  by  wicked  works.     The  house  may  be  all  on  fire, 


CORRESPONDENCE.  297 

but  a  sleeping  man  is  not  sensible  of  his  danger — he  sleeps  on, 
and  perishes  in  the  flames.  The  day  is  drawing  nigh  when  it 
will  be  made  manifest  to  lost  souls,  that  Christ  long  waited  on 
them,  and  was  willing,  most  willing,  to  save  them,  but  that 
they  themselves  were  not  willing  to  come  to  Him  and  be 
saved." 

And  again,  in  anotlier  letter : — 

"  What  a  shadow  Christ's  is !  How  broad !  There  is  room 
enough  under  it  for  all.  How  thick  !  Not  a  ray  of  the  burn- 
ing sun  can  penetrate.  Weariness  and  wandering  forever  past ; 
so  far  as  our  acceptance  with  God  is  concerned,  '  we  sit  down 
under  Christ's  shadow  with  great  delight.'  We  work  no  longer 
in  vain,  we  sit  down  under  the  shadow  of  Christ's  finished  work. 
It  is  good  to  be  here.  '  Taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good.' 
He  is  free  as  the  air  we  breathe,  to  you,  to  me,  to  all.  None 
are  put  away  that  come.  Let  us  never  forget  that  He  to  whom 
we  come  is  a  living  Saviour.  He  who  is  our  righteousness  is 
likewise  our  friend." 

He  was  a  laborious  visitor  of  his  flock — not,  how- 
ever, for  form's  sake,  or  to  go  through  a  dry  routine, 
but  Idndly  conversing  with  each  family  about  the 
great  salvation,  and  always  leaving  behind  him  a 
heavenly  savor.  His  outer  and  inner  life  that  summer 
will  be  indicated  by  a  series  of  short  extracts : — 

"To  ms  Sister. — Birleton,  May  8,  1848. — To-morrow, 
God  willing,  I  begin  the  pastoral  visitation  of  my  flock,  over- 
taking perhaps  eight  or  ten  households.  On  Wednesday,  I 
purpose  to  have  another  diet  of  visitation.  Both  on  Thursday 
and  Friday  evenings  this  week,  I  intend  to  have  a  prayer-meet- 
ing in  connection  with  the  proposed  union.     The  three  first 

13* 


298  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H,   HEWITSON. 

days  of  next  week,  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday,  I  have 
to  attend  meetings  for  prayer  of  ministers  from  various  parts 
of  the  land. 

"  The  Lord  is  gathering  in  some  here  to  be  His  own  forever." 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Dirleton,  May  17,  1848. — 
Often,  when  I  would  have  written,  exhaustion  prevented  me. 
The  infirmities  that  beset  the  present  life  are  fitted  to  give 
greater  intensity  to  the  longing  for  a  state  in  which  the  bless- 
ings of  redemption  will  be  fully  realized.  Every  feeble  pulsa- 
tion, every  sleepless  hour  of  the  night,  every  desire  to  do  the 
Lord  service,  for  which  bodily  strength  is  lacking,  cry  out, 
'  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly !'  Every  stirring  of  sin  in 
the  soul,  every  sore  temptation,  every  cutting  reproach  from 
brethren  as  well  as  from  the  world,  every  aspiration  after  a  ho- 
liness yet  unattained,  cry  out, '  Come,  Lord  Jesus  !'  The  church 
is  low  and  depressed,  the  world  is  growing  old  and  decaying, 
revolution  is  maddening  the  nations,  creation  is  groaning  and 
travailing  in  pain, — all  things  around,  as  well  as  within,  cry 
aloud  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

"  I  have  already  been  laboring  two  months  in  Dirleton 
among  a  people  united  and  attached,  and  not  without  some 
marks  of  the  Lord's  gracious  presence.  The  place  is  physically 
beautiful  and  fertile,  but  spiritually  unshapely  and  barren." 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dirleton  June  8,  1848. — 
To-morrow  morning,  God  willing,  I  set  oflT  for  Newcastle,  where 
I  have  to  preach  in  the  evening,  and  afterwards  on  Sabbath  to 
assist  Mr.  P.  Miller  in  administering  the  communion.  On  Mon- 
day I  intend  to  return,  as  I  have  fixed  on  Tuesday  as  a  day  of 
pastoral  visitation. 

*'  In  visiting  hitherto  I  have  not  been  supported  and  en- 
couraged by  finding  anything  like  symptoms  of  life  in  many. 
How  dead  souls  burden  the  hands  of  a  minister,  and  oppress 
his  spirit !  You  speak  and  pray  as  if  the  audience  was  made 
up  of  clods  of  the  valley.  There  are  a  few  here  who  know 
the  Lord,  and  I  trust  a  few  who  are  inquiring  their  way  Zion- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  299 

wards,  though  yet  ignorant  of  what  free  grace  is.  These  are 
a  comfort  to  me.  I  would  faint,  nevertheless,  but  for  the 
hope  of  seeing  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the 
living. 

"  The  greatest  of  present  trials  is  that  which  indwelling  sin 
occasions.  To  hate  sin,  and  yet  often  be  so  fiercely  assailed  by 
it  as  for  a  time  to  succumb  under  its  violence,  a*  if  it  were  lord 
and  master  of  the  will,  is  a  cause  of  sore  affliction  to  the  child 
of  God." 

"Is  it  not  sweet,  O  my  soul !  to  have  a  holy  God 
to  appeal  to  and  converse  with,  though,  the  world 
should  turn  their  backs  ?"  So  wrote  the  sainted  Mar- 
ty n,  in  allusion  to  the  cold  neglect  of  some  who,  when 
he  was  not  so  holj,  had  treated  him  as  a  friend.  He 
felt  the  neglect  keenly,  less  for  his  own  sake  than  for 
the  sake  of  the  men  who  thus  proved  their  secret  dis- 
affection to  his  Lord.  Mr.  Hewitson  was  not  with- 
out tasting  this  trial.  The  reader  will  have  noticed  an 
allusion  to  "  cutting  reproaches  from  brethren."  In 
another  letter  he  alludes  to  the  same  thing  more  point- 
edly :— 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  DoDDS. — Birleton,  September  18,  1848. 
— If  the  Lord  will,  I  shall  be  with  you  on  your  communion 
Sabbath.  May  His  Spirit  be  present  when  the  day  comes,  to 
make  it  a  day  of  sweet  communion  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  the 
gospel ! 

"  How  mad  a  true  minister  of  Christ  must  appear  in  the 
eyes  of  many  !  He  breathes  a  spirit  and  displays  an  ardor 
which  the  world  cannot  understand.  The  more  that  we  are 
like  Jesus,  whom  the  zeal  of  His  Father's  house  consumed,  or 
like  Paul,  whose  enthusiasm  in  advocating  what  the  flesh  was 


300  MEMOIR   OF   KEV.    W.    H.   HEWITSON. 

unable  to  appreciate  or  relish  brought  on  him  the  charge  of 
being  mad — the  more  shall  we  lie  open  to  the  ridicule  and  ob- 
loquy of  the  carnal,  and  the  more  shall  we  be  censured  as  im- 
prudent by  those  who,  though  evangelical  in  face,  are  Mod- 
erates at  the  core.  Eternity,  with  its  unchangeable  heaven 
and  its  unchangeable  hell,  rebukes  the  moderate  and  the  car- 
nal, calling  on  us  to  exhibit  yet  a  more  close  resemblance  to 
Paul  in  his  mad-like  enthusiasm,  or  to  the  Lord  Himself  in  His 
consuming  zeal.  Jesus  coming  into  our  closet,  and  breathing 
on  us  that  we  may  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  makes  us  able  min- 
isters, and  therefore  fools  in  the  world's  esteem. 

"  We  must  realize  a  deep  impression  on  our  spirits  of  what 
heaven  and  hell  respectively  are,  or,  in  other  words,  of  what 
Christ  once  suffered,  and  of  what  He  now  enjoys,  in  order  that 
we  may  be  able  to  sympathize  deeply  with  Christ  in  His  affec- 
tion for  perishing  souls.  We  never  need  Christ  more  than 
when  we  are  in  the  pulpit.  Then,  most  of  all,  we  should  be 
able  to  say,  '  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.'  " 

Like  Marty n,  Mr.  Hewitson  had  a  holy  God  to  con- 
verse with.  He  was  "  hidden  in  the  secret  of  His  pres- 
ence fi'om  the  pride  of  man,"  It  is  instructive  to  mark 
with  what  simplicity  of  faith  he  walked  before  the 
Lord : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Birleton,  September  20,  1848. 
— Daily  resort  to  the  fountain  of  blood  is  necessary  to  main- 
tain our  peace.  In  many  things  we  offend  all,  while  we  are 
in  the  flesh  ;  and  we  must  be  always  coming  again  to  Calvary, 
always  looking  again  to  Jesus.  To  have  guilt  between  our 
conscience  and  the  blood  of  Christ  is  misery — to  have  the 
blood  of  Christ  between  guilt  and  our  conscience  is  perfect 
peace.  Faith  is  a  miracle-working  acknowledgment  of  our 
weakness  and  of  God's  power.  Whatever  we  need,  whether 
peace  of  conscience  or  any  other  blessing,  we  have  only  to  cast 


SIMPLICITY   OF   HIS  FAITH.  301 

a  faith's-look  on  Christ,  and  the  needed  blessing  is  ours.  A 
sight  of  Christ's  empty  grave  wipes  away  the  believer's  tears. 
Look  up,  dear  friend,  to  the  right  hand  of  God :  that  is  our 
Lord  in  glory.  Do  you  not  see  your  name  graven  on  His 
breastplate  ?" 

And  Mr.  Hewitson  had  other  joys  : — 

"  To  Another, — Dirleton,  September  27,  1848. — In  the 
course  of  ray  pastoral  visitations  I  have  fallen  in  with  some  in- 
quiring souls  of  late.  This  maVes  my  work  here  more  interest- 
ing than  it  would  have  been  otherwise.  A  few  have  lately 
found  peace  in  Christ." 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dirleton,  October  13, 1848. 
— To-day  I  visited  one  of  my  flock,  who  has  recently  joined 
herself  to  the  Lord.  My  heart  has  been  glad  ever  since  I  saw 
her,  she  is  so  full  of  faith,  and  her  peace  is  like  a  river.  She 
can  say,  '  I  am  a  new  creature,'  and  '  Christ  loved  me,  and  gave 
Himself  for  wie.'   '  Thanks  be  to  God  for  His  unspeakable  gift !' " 

Not  a  month  had  passed,  since  he  began  his  minis- 
try, without  evidence  that  the  Lord  was  adding  to  the 
number  of  the  saved.  In  addition  to  all  indirect  work, 
which  "  the  day"  alone  shall  declare,  he  was  privileged 
to  know,  on  evidence  which  satisfied  him  at  the  time, 
and  which  subsequent  experience  confirmed,  that  up 
to  this  period  not  fewer  than  eight  or  nine  persons  had 
passed  from  darkness  into  light — from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God, 

Mr,  Hewitson  was  not  surprised  that  the  Lord  was 
thus  at  work.  Taught  by  his  whole  past  ministry  to 
expect  success,  he  looked  for  conversions  less  as  the 
exception  than  as  the  rule, 

"  I  think  I  have  never  preached,"  was  his  remark 


802  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

to  a  friend  one  day  near  his  death,  "  without  asking, 
in  the  opening  prayer,  that  God  would  convert  souls 
at  that  time.  I  remember,  on  one  occasion  in  Madeira, 
when  praying  before  service,  I  was  tempted  with  the 
unbelieving  thought,  '  God  will  not  convert  souls  to- 
day.' I  asked  for  forgiveness  and  for  more  faith. 
That  day  there  was  a  more  abundant  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  among  the  Portuguese  than  I  had  ever  wit- 
nessed among  them." 

"  God  will  have  all  the  glory,"  said  his  friend. 

"  And  when  He  gets  it,"  rejoined  Mr.  Hewitson, 
"  He  will  give  the  blessing.  I  am  persuaded  it  is  be- 
cause ministers  do  not  expect  God  to  give  the  imme- 
diate blessing  that  there  is  comparatively  so  little 
good  done.  0  if  men  would  but  give  God  credit  for 
sincerity !" 

"  But  mark,"  he  went  on  to  say  on  the  same  occa- 
sion, "  the  distinction  between  expecting  that  God  will 
begin  to  work  now,  and  that  we  shall  see  the  fruit  now. 
The  former  is  warrantable  faith :  the  latter  may  be 
presumptuous  expectation." 

And  yet  such  was  his  experience  of  the  palpable 
effects  of  grace,  that,  if  grace  was  really  there,  he  knev/ 
the  fruits  must  speedily  appear.  It  was  no  cushion  on 
which  he  could  complacently  repose,  to  hope  that  the 
Lord  onight  be  working,  whilst  men  continued  mani- 
festly carnal. 

An  affecting  glimpse  of  the  devoted  minister  is 
opened  up  in  one  of  his  letters  at  this  period : — 


TRIALS  AND   CONSOLATIONS.  303 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Dirleton,  September  27,  1848. 
— Our  friend  would  prefer,  it  may  be,  to  depart,  if  the  Lord 
so  willed,  and  to  be  present  with  Him,  than  to  linger  out  an 
existence  of  suffering  and  weakness  in  this  evil  world.  All 
who  know  what  prostrated  indisposition  of  body  is,  can  sym- 
pathize with  such  a  preference,  if  only  they  are  of  God.  For 
my  own  part,  I  have  not  for  years  past  had  any  worldly  enjoy- 
ment which  could  give  me  a  feeling  of  attachment  to  the  pres- 
ent life.  I  have  had  no  hope  as  regards  this  world ;  and  my 
desire  has  been,  nevertheless,  to  live  a  while  longer  here,  only 
not  for  the  sake  of  anything  in  the  world,  but  that  I  might 
serve  my  Lord  by  preaching  the  gospel  of  His  grace.  Even 
this  desire  has  at  times,  in  consequence  of  physical  infirmity, 
been  only  feeble  ;  for  it  is  a  most  painful  effort  to  go  forth  with 
the  gospel,  when  the  spirit,  not  always  buoyant  in  its  own 
frame,  is  clogged  besides,  and  impeded  by  a  body  devoid  of 
energy.  Yet  it  is  well,  nay,  incomparably  better,  to  be  here, 
while  the  Lord  sees  it  to  be  for  His  glory  and  for  our  good  that 
we  should  remain.  If  by  remaining  we  are  the  means  of  turn- 
ing a  single  soul  from  darkness  to  light,  or  of  helping  forward 
a  converted  soul  on  its  arduous  way,  how  great  the  compensa- 
tion for  protracted  suffering  and  trial !" 

And  again : — 

"  The  file  is  rough,  and  the  application  of  it  harrowing  to 
the  soul ;  but  all  the  more  bright  and  lustrous  will  be  the  dia- 
mond, when,  at  length  thoroughly  polished,  it  shines  forth  in 
the  royal  crown  of  Immanuel." 

Like  all  lioly  men,  Mr.  Hewitson  loved  tlie  Lord's 
day.  "Don't  you  always  find,"  he  writes,  "tliatthe 
Spirit  of  God  flows  in  upon  you  on  the  Lord's  day 
more  than  on  any  other  ?  and  that  the  more  devoted- 
ly you  keep  the  Sabbath  holy  to  the  Lord,  the  more 


304  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

richly  do  you  enjoy  the  communications  of  Divine 
grace  ?  Both  these  items  enter,  I  may  say,  uniformly 
into  my  experience ;  so  that  I  can  testify  to  the  fact 
of  God's  having  not  only  sanctified,  but  likewise 
blessed  the  Sabbath-day."  Nothing  more  grieved 
him  than  to  find  topics  uncongenial  with  its  true 
sanctity  forming  the  theme  of  conversation.  To  sub- 
stitute, for  news  or  business,  only  sermons,  or  minis- 
ters, or  doctrines,  or  ecclesiastical  policy,  he  regarded 
as  the  mere  shell  of  Sabbath  sanctity.  His  Sabbath 
evenings  did  not  obliterate  the  holy  impressions  of 
the  sanctuary. 

"Owe  no  man  anything"  was  one  of  his  golden 
maxims.  In  a  letter  of  this  period,  we  find  him  ar- 
ranging, with  the  most  scrupulous  exactness,  a  little 
matter  of  business.  The  extract  otherwise  is  of  no 
moment ;  but  we  give  it  as  an  illustration  of  his  habit 
of  mind  in  such  matters  : — 

"  To  A  Friend  in  Edinbuhgh. — Dirleton,  Feb.  14, 1849. — 

If  you  have  not  found   another  yet  to  join  you  and  L 

F in  taking  the  Witness,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  become  a 

sharer  with  you  for  half  a  year,  the  arrangement  dating  from 
the  1st  of  March.  I  say,  meanwhile,  for  half  a  year,  as  I 
should  like,  if  possible,  to  make  an  arrangement  with  some  one 
similar  to  that  into  which  you  and  I  entered  at  first.  I  am 
ready,  however,  to  take  two  shares  of  your  paper — one  for  my- 
self, and  one  for  my  mother — the  only  objection,  so  far  as  I  can 

guess,  being,  that  D B would  necessarily  not  receive 

the  papers  for  two  or  three  days  longer.  Can  that  objection 
be  overruled  ?" 

Often  have  we  heard  him  express  his  surprise  that 


CHAKACTERISTICS.  305 

Christians,  and  especially  Christian  ministers,  should 
deliberately  run  into  an  expenditure  exceeding  their 
means.  Spiritaality  and  the  commercial  virtues  he 
held  to  be  indissolubly  linked.  To  live  above  his  in- 
come was,  in  his  eyes,  a  flagrant  sin. 

But  whilst  shrinking  thus  sensitively  from  incurring 
debt,  no  one  ever  witnessed  in  him  any  unseemly 
strivings  or  mean  shifts  about  money.  Though  care- 
ful in  keeping  his  accounts,  and  regularly  paying  his 
bills,  he  evidently  did  this,  as  he  did  all,  to  the  Lord. 
His  heart  was  not  in  such  things.  "  The  world  was 
truly  behind  his  back"  to  the  very  end.  So  far,  in- 
deed, did  he  carry  this  feeling,  that  again  and  again 
he  returned,  or  gave  to  some  charitable  object,  sums 
of  money  which,  in  thankfulness  for  his  spiritual 
things,  Avell-meaning  friends  had  sent.  The  Lord 
amply  supplied  his  moderate  wants;  and  he  sought 
for  nothing  more. 

The  closing  paragraph  of  the  letter  last  quoted 
illustrates  another  characteristic  feature — ^his  happy 
art  of  gracefully  and  naturally  turning  any  passing 
incident  to  profit  in  dealing  with  souls  : — 

"  Dirleton,  February  14,  1849. — How  the  little  birds,  cal- 
low and  helpless  in  their  nests,  open  their  mouths  to  receive 
the  food  brought  to  them  by  the  parent-birds !  What  an 
illutsration  of  faith  in  the  act  of  receiving  ?  '  Open  thy  mouth 
wide,  and  I  will  fill  it.'  Does  the  young  brood  trust  in  its 
winged  parent  ?  and  shall  we  not  trust  in  the  Father  of  Christ 
Jesus,  His  and  ours  ?" 


306  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

This  trait  was  especially  prominent  in  his  conversa- 
tion. 

"  How  safe,"  said  he  one  day,  in  his  usual  kind  and 
solemn  way,  to  a  woman  who,  as  he  passed  along  the 
village,  was  standing  at  her  door  with  her  child  in  her 
arms — "  how  safe  that  child  feels  itself  in  your  arms ! 
The  believer  is  as  safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus.  If  the 
child  felt  itself  falling,  it  would  instantly  cling  to  its 
mother's  breast.  Just  so  a  believer,  when  ready  to 
fall,  stretches  out  his  arms  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  Do 
2/OM,"  he  proceeded  to  say,  "repose  in  this  way  on 
Jesus  ?  Do  you  lean  as  confidently  on  His  arm  ?"  He 
then  went  on  to  show  her  her  fallen  state  by  nature, 
and  that  there  was  no  safety  for  one  moment  but  in 
Christ ;  and  he  urged  on  her  an  immediate  escape  to 
the  refuge,  lest  she  should  be  overtaken  by  "  the 
avenger  of  blood."  That  conversation  the  Lord  blessed 
to  the  awakening  of  the  woman's  soul. 

Another  example  may  be  noted.  "Where  do  you 
live  ?"  said  he  to  a  member  of  his  congregation,  whose 
face  he  knew,  but  whom  he  had  not  yet  visited.  "  In 
the  room  up  stairs,"  was  the  answer.  "  Well,  I  hope 
you  invite  the  Lord  Jesus  into  your  room  to  dwell 
with  you.  He  always  delighted  to  enter  into  the 
upper  room  in  Jerusalem,  with  his  disciples  of  old,  to 
hold  converse  with  them.  And  Jesus  is  the  same  to- 
day as  lie  was  then — still  as  willing  to  hold  commun- 
ion with  the  sinner.  Would  it  not  be  blessed  to 
dwell  with  Jesus,  the  eternal  Son  of  God  ?"     He  spoke 


CHAKACTERISTICS.  307 

home  to  her  conscience,  and  pressed  on  her  the  duty 
and  privilege  of  immediately  closing  with  Christ. 

These  are  specimens  of  his  way-side  conversations, 
such  as  occurred  every  day  in  his  walks.  The  words 
have  in  them  nothing  to  strike  or  dazzle ;  but  they 
were  "whetted"  by  a  heart  so  tender,  and  by  a  bear- 
ing so  holy,  that  they  seldom  failed  to  impress. 

"  Soon  did  he  occupy,"  writes  Mr.  Dodds,  "  a  place 
in  the  affections  and  veneration  of  his  people  which  it 
is  given  to  few  ministers  to  obtain.  His  holy  fidelit}^, 
consistency,  and  earnestness,  both  in  the  pulpit  and 
out  of  it,  impressed  and  overawed  even  those  who 
could  not  fully  appreciate  his  character,  or  disliked 
what  they  might  call  his  rigor  and  severity.  But  his 
tender  pity  for  careless  and  perishing  sinners  always 
appeared  when  it  was  most  needed,  and  melted  the 
hearts  of  many  who  listened  to  his  voice,  or  came 
within  the  reach  of  his  influence.' 


CHAPTEE  XVm 

1849,  1850. 

Tenderness  in  visiting  the  sick — Conversation  in  Heaven — Corres- 
pondence— Ministerial  Work — Church  Courts — Visit  to  Southamp- 
ton— Growing  Meekness  —  Sermons  to  Children  —  Example — In- 
creasing "Weakness — Memorial  of  a  Visit  to  Dirleton — Last  Com- 
munion Sabbath. 

Grimshaw  of  Hawortli  was  compared  by  John 
Newton  to  an  instrument  which  is  never  out  of  tune. 
The  figure  happily  describes  Mr.  Hewitson's  daily 
spiritual  life.  His  holiness  was  not  periodical  or  fit- 
ful. Heavenly  converse,  especially  as  he  hastened  on 
"  towards  the  mark,"  became  more  and  more  his 
soul's  rest  and  home. 

It  is  not  easy  to  express  in  words  the  peculiar-  at- 
tractiveness which  this  tone  of  soul  imparted  to  his 
ministrations  in  the  sick-chamber  and  in  the  house 
of  mourning.  "  An  aflfiicted  member  of  my  congrega- 
tion, whom  he  occasionally  visited, "  writes  Mr.  Ste- 
venson of  Ayr,  "regarded  him  with  such  veneration, 
that  she  spoke  of  receiving  him  as  an  angel  of  God." 
None  who  saw  him  on  these  occasions  will  consider 
the  language  overstrained.     An   illustration   of  his 


TENDEENESS  TO  THE   SICK.  309 

method  of  dealing  occurs  in  three  letters  written  at 
this  period.  The  unction  and  tenderness  of  the  man- 
ner, so  winning,  and  withal  so  solemnizing,  of  course 
are  not  here.  The  lady  to  whom  the  first  of  the 
letters  is  addressed  was  sojourning  at  the  time  at 
Torquay,  sinking  under  pulmonic  consumption. 

"  Dlrleton,  February/  5,  1849. — When  I  last  saw  Mr.  Craw- 
ford I  was  grieved  to  hear  from  him  of  your  increased  bodily 
weakness.  What  is  trying  to  flesh  and  blood  is,  under  the 
mighty  hand  of  your  God  and  Father,  working  out  in  you  a 
more  entire  fitness  for  the  kingdom  which  '  flesh  and  blood 
shall  not  inherit.'  The  process  is  painful,  but  how  glorious 
will  be  the  result !  Yet  a  little  while,  and  you  will  behold  the 
King's  face  in  righteousness  :  you  shall  see  Him  as  He  is,  and 
be  satisfied  with  His  likeness.  As  the  polished  mirror  gives 
back  the  radiance  of  the  sun,  so  will  you  reflect  the  beauty  of 
the  Lord,  the  Holy  One,  on  the  day  of  His  appearing.  I  speak 
with  such  confidence  regarding  you,  for  I  am  persuaded  that 
you  are  resting  on  the  sure  foundation  laid  by  God  in  Zion, 
and  that  you  have  committed  yourself  to  Him  who  is  able  to 
keep  you  until  that  day. 

"  It  is  no  sign  of  an  unfatherly  heart  in  God  towards  you, 
but  of  the  very  reverse,  that  you  are  now  suffering  at  such  a 
distance  from  your  dear  husband  and  your  earthly  home. 
God's  love  to  His  own  is  so  great,  that  it  cannot  rest  till  it  have 
won  to  itself  all  their  affections.  He  has  led  you  into  a  wil- 
derness, that,  being  thrown  by  circumstances  more  than  ever 
on  Him  for  strength  and  comfort,  you  may  lean  more  affec- 
tionately, more  confidingly,  on  His  arm,  saying,  *  Whom  have 
I  in  heaven  but  Thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  de- 
sire besides  Thee.'  While  you  go  up  through  the  valley  of 
tears,  leaning  on  your  Beloved,  you  will  tread  at  every  step  on 
spices  and  sweet  flowers,  that  will  breathe  a  heavenly  fragrance 
around  you. — Yours  aftectionately  in  the  Lord." 


olO  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

"To  James  Crawford,  Jun.,  Esq.,  W.S.,  Edinburgh.— 
Dirleton,  Februartj  14,  1849. — Will  you  let  Mrs.  Crawford 
know,  with  my  best  Christian  regards,  that,  when  I  wrote,  it 
was  not  by  any  means  in  expectation  of  receiving  an  answer  ? 
If  she  can  write  a  few  lines  at  any  time,  it  should  be  to  your- 
self. I  know  that  the  exertion  of  writing  is  one  which,  in  her 
present  state,  she  should  decline  as  much  as  possible.  How 
blessed  that,  when  the  soul  is  in  a  holy  frame,  the  exertion  of 
prayer  is  so  little  felt  as  not  to  oppress  even  the  languishing 
body  !  The  natural  breathing  of  the  holy  soul  is  prayer,  that 
enters  into  the  ears  of  the  Father. — Yours  affectionately  iu 
Christ,  W.  H.  Hewitson." 

"To  THE  SAME. — Divkton,  Ajn'U  2, 1849. — Since  I  received 
the  intimation  of  your  sad  bereavement,  I  have  till  now  de- 
layed writing  to  you  any  expression  of  my  sympathy,  with  the 
intention  of  doing  so  when  I  thought  you  might  have  returned 
to  Edinburgh.  My  sympathy  with  you  in  your  sorrow  is 
mingled  with  another  feeling,  in  which  you  will  yourself  still 
more  abundantly  participate — sympathy  with  her  whom  the 
Lord  has  taken  from  you  to  Himself,  in  her  present  joy. 

"  To  be  persuaded  on  good  grounds  that,  though  now  for  a 
season  she  is  from  home  as  to  the  body,  she  is  at  home  with 
the  Lord,  full  of  unspeakable  joy — how  great  is  the  consolation 
which  that  is  fitted  to  afford  you  in  your  affliction  !  Your 
sorrow,  however  great,  is  not  like  that  of  many  in  like  circum- 
stances— a  sorrow  without  hope.  She  is  resting  now  from  her 
labors  and  sufferings,  and  meanwhile  she  is  waiting  for  the  day 
when  you  and  she  again  will  meet — oh,  in  what  altered  cir- 
cumstances ! — before  the  throne  of  the  Lamb. 

"  She  looked  forward  to  that  day  when  she  was  still  with 
you  in  the  body,  and  she  is  looking  forward  to  it  still.  You 
and  she  are  still  looking  forward,  as  before,  in  the  same  hope, 
to  the  same  promised  glory.  There  is  a  communion  thus 
maintained  between  you  still,  though  now,  in  regard  to  it,  you 
'  walk  by  faith,'  and  no  longer  '  by  sight.'     Yet  a  little  while, 


LETTEK   10   A  BEKEAVED   FRIEND.  oil 

and  things  invisible  will  be  invisible  no  more.  Then,  radiant 
with  immortality,  and  wearing  the  crown  of  righteousness — 
such  is  the  hope  you  cherish — you  and  she  will  have  commu- 
nion face  to  face  ;  and  a  present  Saviour,  your  one  Bridegroom 
and  your  best  Beloved,  will  make  the  joy  of  both  to  overflow. 

"  So  far  as  she  is  personally  concerned,  we  are  called  to 
sympathize  only  with  gladness  of  heart.  The  event  which  has 
put  sorrow  into  your  heart  has  put  gladness  into  hers.  What 
an  alleviation  this  is  of  your  sorrow  !  What  a  cause  of  thank- 
fulness to  the  God  of  all  grace,  who  called  her  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  His  Son  !  Many  at  their  departure,  leave  behind,  in 
the  breast  of  their  sorrowing  relatives,  the  apprehension,  infi- 
nitely more  distressing  than  bereavement,  that  they  have  gone 
down  into  the  pit.  Far  different — thanks  to  redeeming  and 
adopting  love  ! — is  your  case.  Your  dear  wife  has  bequeathed 
to  you,  along  with  the  bitterness  of  bereavement,  the  sweet 
consolation  of  knowing  that,  as  to  her  concerns,  all  is  well — 
well  forever. 

"  As  to  yourself,  my  dear  friend,  the  change  in  your  condi- 
tion is  painful  and  trying.  Speaking  humanly,  it  is  a  change 
in  all  respects  for  the  worse  ;  but,  looking  at  it  in  the  light  of 
God,  we  have  good  reason  for  beheving^that  in  most  important 
respects  it  will  yet  prove  to  have  been  for  the  better.  '  All 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God.'  His 
dispensation  has  been  arranged,  in  all  its  circumstances,  by 
Divine  wisdom,  with  a  view  to  your  greatest  happiness,  as  well 
as  with  a  view  to  hers.  The  love  and  affection  which  you  had 
towards  her  will  naturally  follow  her  into  the  invisible  world, 
and  up  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  That  love  and  affection 
were  once  placed  on  an  object  in  time — they  are  now  placed 
on  an  object  in  eternity.  If  often  your  heart  will  carry  your 
thoughts  away  to  the  beloved  spot  where  the  mortal  remains 
are  laid,  still  oftener  will  it  carry  away  your  thoughts  to  the 
place,  still  more  beloved,  where  the  immortal  spirit  is  with  Je- 
sus.    Hence  may  accrue  to  you,  my  dear  friend,  from  this  af- 


312  MEMOIR  OF  KEY.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

flictive  stroke,  no  small  increase  of  spiritual  good.  But,  above 
all,  God  aims,  by  breaking  the  cistern  of  creature  comfort,  at 
drawing  your  heart's  desires  more  entirely  out  after  Himself, 
the  uncreated  Fountain  of  life  and  blessedness. — Affectionately 
yours  in  Christ,  W.  II.  H." 

The  secret  process  by  wliicli  the  instrument  was 
kept  in  tune,  is  seen  in  the  following : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Birleton,  March  16,  1849. — 
To  me  many  of  those  hours  were  sweet  and  pleasant  exceed- 
ingly, for  the  Lord  was  in  the  midst  of  us.  How  indescribable 
the  joy  of  fellowship  with  those  who,  you  are  persuaded,  have 
their  affections  set  supremely  on  Jesus !  Communion,  sweet 
and  soul-satisfying,  there  cannot  be,  unless  it  be  poised  and 
balanced  on  the  centre  of  a  common  love  to  Him.  Nothing 
sheds  such  attractiveness  and  amiability  around  a  redeemed 
soul,  as  the  evidence  which  it  gives  of  being  drawn  out  to  Je- 
sus by  the  power  of  an  all-pervading,  all-hallowing  love.  What 
will  heaven  be  ?  What  the  Holy  City  ?  How  full  of  joy,  be- 
cause love  to  Jesus,  love  to  His  Father  and  ours,  will  be  the 
element  breathed  by  ^11 !  Happiness  will  be  perfect  there, 
for  love  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb  will  be  perfect,  pure  from  the 
admixture  of  everything  carnal  and  earthly. 

"  I  find  few  that  seem  to  love  the  Lord  as  the  redeemed  should 
love  Him.  Often  do  I  feel  longings  for  a  higher  sort  of  fellow- 
ship than  I  am  privileged  to  enjoy,  at  least  with  the  saints :  with 
the  Lord  Himself  we  may  daily  enjoy  the  privilege  of  having 
fellowship  of  the  highest  kind.  He  is  ever  near,  ever  living, 
ever  loving,  ever  watching,  ever  pleading,  ever  upholding.  Are 
we  defiled  ?  Beheld,  He  has  girded  Himself  with  a  towel,  and 
is  stooping  to  wash  our  feet.  Are  we  exhausted,  faint,  and  weary  ? 
Behold,  His  everlasting  arms  are  underneath.  Does  the  fear 
ever  rise  up  within  us,  that  the  Lord  has  gone  away  ?  Are  we 
ever  afraid,  as  if  He  were  not  ours  ?     '  Fear  not,'  He  says,  '  for 


FELLOWSHIP   WITH   THE   LORD.  313 

I  am  with  thee  :  be  not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God.'  Is  the 
pulse  of  divine  life  in  us  very  feeble  ?  Is  the  breathing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  our  hearts  scarcely,  if  at  all,  perceived  ?  Then, 
Jesus  is  the  same  this  day  as  when  He  said,  'If  I  depart,  I  will 
send  Him  (the  Spirit  of  truth,  the  Comforter)  unto  you ;  He  is 
the  same  as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  He  fulfilled  first  that 
gracious  promise ;  He  is  the  same  as  v/hen  He  shed  on  our  own 
souls  most  richly  the  spirit  of  life  and  joy. 

"  We  may  have  to  complain,  that  with  the  saints  we  have 
not  the  satisfying  fellowship  that  we  long  for ;  but  with  the 
King  himself  we  may  ever  have  such  fellowship,  that,  even 
amidst  trial,  our  joy  will  be  full.  A  living  sinner  enjoying  the 
acquaintance,  the  friendship,  the  intimacy,  the  love,  of  a  living 
Saviour — that  is  religion — that  is  godliness — that  is  the  outgo- 
ing and  exercise  of  a  divine,  holy  life. 

"  And  oh !  what  a  bright,  glorious,  unchangeable  revelation 
of  the  Saviour's  dispositions,  tempers,  habits,  and  ways,  is  given 
to  us  in  the  Word !  The  AVord  is  all  living,  for  there  is  in  it 
everywhere  the  living  Saviour.  Here  we  see  Him  touching  the 
leper ;  here  looking  kindly  on  a  sinner- woman  at  His  feet ;  here 
looking  up,  and  saying  to  Zaccheus,  '  To-day  I  must  abide  at 
thy  house ;'  there  we  see  Him  in  the  midst  of  His  disciples,  say- 
ing, '  Peace  be  unto  you,'  and  showing  them  His  hands  and 
His  side ;  yonder,  in  heaven,  we  see  Him  showing  His  hands 
and  His  side  to  the  Father,  and  pleading  that  peace  may  be  mul- 
tiplied to  His  disciples  here  on  earth. 

"  How  worthy  to  be  trusted,  how  much  to  be  loved,  is  the  Sa- 
viour revealed  to  us  in  the  Word!  How  different  a  Saviour 
from  that  which  Satan  would  fain  surreptitiously  introduce  into 
the  chamber  of  our  thoughts,  or,  by  hellish  magic,  present  before 
the  eye  of  our  imaginations !  I  have  seen  souls  as  much  afraid 
of  Christ  as  if  He  were  a  God  like  Moloch,  delighting  in  blood. 
Satan  had  set  Moloch  before  their  minds,  and  made  them  be- 
lieve that  it  was  Christ. 

"  Oh,  then,  let  us  make  much  of  the  Word,  and,  whatever  be 
14 


314  MEMOIR   OF   KEY.    W.    H.    HEWITSON. 

our  frames  or  feelings,  let  us  trust  in  it,  nothing  doubting,  for  ii 
reveals  to  us  the  true  Christ  of  God ;  and,  trusting  ia  it,  we  are 
in  very  deed  trusting  in  God  Himself,  leanir^g  oa  the  arm  of 
Immanuel.  Jesus  loves  those  most  who  place  most  confidencs 
in  His  love. 

"  May  He  show  himself  to  you  a  very  present  help  in  your  time 
of  trouble,  and  bear  you  onward  to  the  house  of  His  Father,  as  on 
eagles' wings!  He  will  come  soon,  AVe  shall  see  Him. — ^Till 
then,  if  we  meet  not  before,  I  am,  dear  friend,  yours  affectionately 
in  the  Lord,  W.  H." 

In  the  two  next  letters,  we  seem  to  stand  by  his  side, 
in  the  very  precincts  of  the  "celestial  city"  : — 

"To  J.  H.  Spencer,  Esq.,  London. — Dirleton,  April  2, 
1849. — It  is  long  since  even  a  note  passed  from  either  of  us  to 
the  other.  But  we  are  near  in  Christ,  for  Christ  is  one  with  each 
of  His  saints,  one  with  them  all.  Let  us  stand  fast,  dear  brother, 
in  Him ;  let  us  grow  up  unto  Him  in  all  things,  making  increase 
with  the  increase  of  God ;  and  let  us,  as  men  in  a  race,  who  are 
determined  to  v/in  the  prize,  press  onward,  and  onward,  with  an 
eye  on  the  crown  of  righteousness.  There  may  oft  be  hard  strug- 
gling and  panting  for  breath  in  the  race,  and  the  prize  often  may 
be  intercepted  from  our  view,  but  ere  long  all  will  be  over — the 
race  will  be  run,  and  the  crown  will  be  placed  on  the  victorious 
brow.  Heaven  or  hell ! — who  would  not  ran  so  as  to  be  win- 
ners in  the  race !  Alas !  many,  instead  of  running,  are  lying  on 
the  course  fast  asleep.     They  shall  have  but  a  sad  awaking." 

'•To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Dirleton,  April  2, 1849. — 
Blessed  the  afflictions  and  trials  that  make  time  less  cared  for, 
and  that  help  us  forward  in  our  heavenward  race  !  When  we 
are  nearer  to  God  than  usual,  and  more  fully  in  the  light  and 
air  of  His  holy  place,  how  comparatively  trifling  are  all  the  ills 
of  the  present  life !  Eternity,  with  its  heaven  and  hell,  its 
endless  joys  and  its  everlasting  burnings,  then  makes  so  deep 


HEAVENLY  ASPIRATIONS.  315 

an  impression  on  the  heart.  These  shadows,  which  form  the 
all  of  the  world,  are  fast  passing  away ;  the  realities  which, 
alas  !  even  believers  sometimes  feel  no  more  than  if  they  were 
but  shadows,  will  ere  long  be  ushered  in,  and  make  themselves 
eternally  felt. 

"  Now,  we  are  like  men  in  a  journey,  crossing  a  narrow 
stream,  called  life,  happy  if  only  the  Son  of  God  be  with  us 
in  the  bark,  for  on  yonder  side,  which  we  are  so  rapidly  Hear- 
ing, there  are  no  changes  forever,  either  of  heart  or  of  condition. 
Hell  would  be  our  home  to-morrow,  if  Christ  were  not  ours 
to-day.  If  Christ  be  ours  to-day,  while  we  are  on  our  journey, 
and  yet  crossing  the  stream,  we  may  have,  we  must  have, 
many  trials ;  but  heaven  will  be  our  home  to-morrow,  when 
the  stream  is  crossed,  and  the  journey  forever  ended.  Let 
us  then  wait  on  the  Lord,  and  be  of  good  courage ;  He  will 
'  ere  long  bring  us  into  a  wealthy  place." 

Some  jottings  from  a  note-book  of  this  period  in- 
dicate tlie  ordinary  tenor  of  his  ministerial  work : — 

"Dirleton,  April  8— Sabbath.— Maiih.  ix.  27-31,  and  Gal. 
i.  4-5.     Visited  at  Ferrygate  and  in  the  village — two  days." 

"  Dirleton,  April  15 — Sabbath. — Luke  xxi.  5-28,  and  Gen. 
xxviii.  12.  Visited  at  Kingston,  at  Queenston,  and  in  the 
village — three  days." 

^'Dirkton,  April  22 — Sabbath. — ^Matth.  ix.  32-88,  and  John 
xvi.  8-11.  Visited  at  East  Fortune,  Fenton  Barns,  and. in  the 
village — three  days." 

^^Birleton,  April  29 — Sabbath.  Matth.  x.  1-15,  and  John 
iii.  3.  Gullane  in  the  evening — Heb.  i.  3.  Visited  in  the 
village — one  day." 

The  texts  here  noted  were  the  subjects  of  his  pulpit 
ministrations,  embracing  a  lecture  and  a  sermon  each 


316  MEMOIR   OF  REV.    W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Sabbath.  In  addition  to  tbe  pastoral  visitations,  there 
was  also  tbe  visitation  of  tbe  sick  and  infirm.  Bible 
classes  and  tbe  Sabbatb-scbool,  as  well  as  tbe  weekly 
prayer-meeting,  tbougb  not  specified  bere,  formed  a 
regular  part  of  bis  ministerial  work.  Tbe  montbly 
evening  sermon  at  GuUane,  a  neglected  village  tbree 
miles  distant,  was  never  omitted  even  in  tbe  most  in- 
clement weatber.  His  feeble  frame  migbt  well  bave 
sbrunk  from  sucb  labors.  But  bis  own  ease  or  com- 
fort bad  no  place  in  bis  tbougbts.  He  indeed  "  endured 
bardness"  for  tbe  Lord's  sake. 

"  ISTor  did  be  confine  bimself,"  writes  Mr.  Dodds, 
"  to  tbe  more  spiritual  department  of  bis  office  and 
work.  Wbatever  duty  devolved  upon  bim  as  tbe 
minister  of  a  congregation,  or  a  member  of  our  various 
cburcb  courts  be  cbeerfully  and  conscientiously  per- 
formed. Tbougb  delicate  bealtb  migbt  bave  afforded 
bim  a  fair  excuse,  be  did  not  sbrink  from  tbe  society 
of  bis  brethren,  or  from  tbe  meetings  of  Presbytery  ; 
but,  whenever  his  strength  allowed,  be  was  always  at 
bis  post,  and  undertook  his  full  share  of  duty.  All 
this  showed  tbe  peculiar  decision  and  conscientiousness 
of  his  character,  bis  high  standard  of  duty,  and  his 
earnest  desire  to  be  useful  in  tbe  Church  in  all  capaci- 
ties, according  to  the  measure  of  bis  ability." 

The  holy  gravity  of  bis  deportment  carried  a  sol- 
emnizing and  hallowing  influence  into  such  meetings. 
All  felt,  in  bis  presence,  that  a  man  of  God  was  among 
them.     His  face  seemed  always  shining,  as  if  he  bad 


VISIT  TO   SOUTHAMPTON.  817 

just  descended  from  the  mount.     He  was  the  Christian 
everywhere — living  every  moment  for  eternity. 

An  interesting  illustration  of  his  conscientiousness 
in  discharging  the  duties  of  a  member  of  church  courts 
occurs  in  an  allusion  to  the  General  Assembly  of  thin 
year.     The  case  was  one  of  discipline : — 

" 's  case  tended  to  create  not  only  anxiety  anaong  the 


members,  but  likewise  solemnity.  I  spent  about  ten  hours  in 
private  in  reading  the  evidence  in  that  case;  and,  without 
reading  and  weighing  the  evidence  privately,  I  should  not  have 
felt  at  liberty  to  give  a  vote.  It  was  a  most  painful  case.  It 
said  emphatically  to  all  who  had  to  do  with  it,  '  Be  not  high- 
minded,  but  fear.' " 

He  preached  before  that  Assembly.  His  text  was, 
"  God  is  love." 

He  ministered  for  a  month  that  summer  at  South- 
ampton, where  his  labors  were  not  unblest.  We  give 
a  few  extracts  from  letters  written  during  his  residence 
there : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Edinburgh. — Southampton,  June  13, 
1849. — On  Saturday  last  I  reached  this  town,  and  preached 
twice  on  Sabbath.  Yesterday  night  I  conducted  the  services 
at  a  congregational  prayer-meeting.  Here  I  am  creeping, 
where  Whitefield  was  wont  to  fly.  0  that  I  had  wings  like 
his !  My  ministerial  life  seems  to  me  much  to  resemble  that 
of  the  chrysalis.  Something  in  me  says '  Work,'  but  something 
else  says  '  No,'  and,  alas  !  the  more  ignoble  instinct  too  gener- 
ally prevails.  How  little  of  the  Spirit  of  Him  who,  anointed 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,  went  about  continually 
doing  good !" 


818  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Southampton,  June  23, 1849. — 
....  The  congregation  last  Sabbath  was  like  the  full-formed 
bud  of  a  numerous  and  intelligent  church.  I  hope  the  bud 
will  soon  burst  under  the  pastoral  care  of  a  regular  and  suitable 
minister.  Few  Scotch  congregations  have  a  greater  amount 
of  quickness,  shrewdness,  and  intelligence,  than  the  majority 
of  the  Presbyterians  here  possess.  The  minister  must,  above 
all  else,  be  a  godly  man,  but  he  must  likewise  have  good  in- 
tellectual calibreP 

"To  Ills  Sister. — Southampton,  June  25,  1849. —  .... 
Yesterday  morning  I  spat  a  little  blood,  but  the  Lord  so 
strengthened  my  weak  body,  that  I  preached  forenoon  and 
afternoon  without  injury.  The  congregation  yesterday  seemed 
to  be  more  impressed,  and  some  not  a  little  solemnized  and 
moved.  I  trust  the  Lord,  not  hindered  by  the  weakness  and 
un worthiness  of  the  instrument,  and  graciously  working  in 
some  hearts. 

"Weak  exceedingly,  we  need  always  to  be  resting  on  the 
arm  of  God  our  Saviour.  I  often  feel  as  if  I  were  the  weakest 
of  all  beings,  and  as  if  my  being  enabled  to  go  forward  were 
a  miracle  of  Divine  love  and  power.  Less  than  nothing  and 
vanity,  what  should  we  be  but  for  Immanuel,  God  with  us  ? 
May  you  all  know  Him,  and  experience  His  nearness,  and  have 
tokens  of  His  kindness  !" 

He  had.  a  happy  way  of  winning  tlie  confidence  of 
distressed  and  earnest  souls.  Such  were  sure  to  meet 
in  him  a  tender  sympathy.  Many  who  towards  others 
maintainsd  a  silent  reserve,  opened  up  to  him  their 
spiritual  maladies.  An  illustration  of  this  trait  occurs 
in  the  following  letter : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Southampton,  June  25, 1849. — 
Your  last  letter  was  the  most  gladdening  that  you  ever  favored 
me  by  writing,     I  well  remember,  as  one  of  the  most  memo- 


HUMILITY.  319 

rable  occasions  on  which  I  had  fellowship  with  you  in  Madeira, 
the  evening  when — it  was  in  Dr.  Kalley's  house — you  first  told 
me  of  your  spiritual  condition.  That  was  the  evening  when  I 
first  felt  myself  to  be  in  true  Christian  fellowship  with  you; 
at  least  I  began  to  have  a  more  lively  sense  of  fellowship 
with  you  than  I  had  previously  enjoyed.  Your  last  letter 
vividly  recalled  the  occasion  referred  to,  but  it  afforded  still 
greater  joy ;  for  joy  in  the  evidences  of  a  victorious  and 
triumphant  faith  is  more  unmixed,  though  not  more  tender, 
than  that  produced  by  a  faith  discouraged  and  oppressed — a 
faith  in  conflict  with  the  flesh,  and  struggling  Christwards  in 
the  midst  of  darkness. 

"  Christ's  sympathies  towards  us  flow  forth  much  in  the 
same  way  as  ours  do  towards  one  another.  He  doubtless  re- 
joices most  over  us  when,  most  confiding  in  His  love  and 
Saviour-suflBciency,  we  walk  before  Him  in  light,  liberty,  and 
joy ;  but  it  is  when  the  soul  is  in  hard  battle  with  the  power 
of  darkness — when,  so  to  speak,  the  sweat  of  toil,  that  seems 
well  nigh  desperation,  is  on  its  brow,  and  it  falls  down  weeping 
and  helpless  at  the  feet  of  Jesus — it  is  then,  perhaps,  that 
Jesus  gives  some  of  the  most  tender  and  heart-melting  demon- 
strations of  His  sympathy  and  love." 

Walking  in  ever  closer  fellowship  with  the  Lord, 
he  grew  in  self-abasing  lowliness.  Forgiven  much, 
and  loving  much,  he  stood,  like  the  "  woman  which 
was  a  sinner,"  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  "  behind  Him, 
weeping." 

"  To  x^NOTiiER. — Southampton,  June  26,  1849. — Your  let- 
ters are  acts  of  kindness  to  one  who  is  truly  '  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners,' '  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,'  the  most  unworthy  and 
hell-deserving  of  all.  As  in  a  glass  face  answers  to  f;ice,  so  does 
this  heart  of  mine  answer  to  the  words  of  Scripture  ;  '  The 


820  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOX. 

heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked  :  who 
can  know  it  V 

"  You  think  too  highly  of  my  growth  in  grace,  of  my  con- 
formity to  the  image  of  the  Holy  One.  He  knows  my  vast 
unhkeness  to  Himself,  my  wandering  of  heart  from  His  law, 
my  readiness  to  forsake  His  fellowship,  and  to  fix  idolatrous 
aflFection  on  created  things.  My  dear  brethren  who  are  in  the 
world  know  me  not :  that  is  one  consolation.  My  Lord  Jesus 
knows  me  thoroughly  :  that  is  a  consolation  greater  still. 

"  I  think  if  I  had  ray  will  I  should  even  now  become  inca- 
pable of  sinning.  But,  alas  !  sin  besets  me  on  every  side — 
comes  in  upon  me  like  water,  as  it  were  through  a  thousand 
pores,  or  oozes  forth  where  it  seemed  to  have  completely  van- 
ished. Still  sin  has  not  breathed  its  last — it  is  only  on  its 
death-bed  ;  holiness  has  not  attained  its  cherubic  manhood — it 
is  still  only  in  the  cradle  of  its  infancy.  '  0  wretched  man  that 
I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  V  is 
an  ejaculation  often  prompted,  but  often  uttered  with  too  much 
languor,  too  little  earnestness.  You  say,  dear  friend,  that  you 
have  lately  seen  more  of  the  malignity  of  indwelhng  sin.  I 
ought,  if  any  other  on  the  earth,  to  sympathize  with  you  m 
that  experience.  Indwelling  sin  never  manifested  greater  ma- 
lignity and  deceitfulness  than  here." 

"  Could  an  emmet,"  it  has  been  said,  "  pry  into  it- 
self, it  might  marvel  at  its  own  anatomy."  There  is 
a  self-anatomy  which,  under  the  guise  of  humility^ 
leaves  the  man  "vain  of  his  self-knowledge,"  "i^roud 
of  his  discoveries  of  pride."  Humility  like  this — how 
unlike  the  lowliness  of  those  who,  as  they  fall  dowri 
in  deepest  abasement  before  the  Lamb,  sing  the  new 
song,  saying,  "  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us 
to  God  by  thy  blood"  1 — This  is  true  lowliness — the 
lowliness  accompanying,  not  unbelief,  but  faith,  not 


HUMILITY.  321 

suspicion,  but  confidence.  Mr.  Hewitson  was  grow- 
ing in  lowliness,  because  growing  in  his  knowledge 
of  the  glories  of  the  Lamb.  "  Go  to  Golgotha,"  said 
Neff  to  one  of  his  Alpine  catechumens,  "and  thou 
wilt  see  the  odious  nature  of  thy  sins."  It  was  as  Mr. 
Hewitson  gazed  day  by  day  with  ever-deepening  love 
on  the  Lord  who  died  for  him,  that  his  "head"  be- 
came more  truly  "  waters,  and  his  eyes  a  fountain  of 
tears."  This  principle  of  his  hidden  life  is  illustrated 
in  the  sequel  of  the  letter  last  quoted.  How  does  he 
follow  up  the  self-loathing  ?     Thus :  — 

"  Nothing  has  more  attractive  and  heart-weaning  power  than 
habitual  contemplation  of  the  Lord's  living  person.  Our  Re- 
deemer is  no  mere  abstraction,  no  ideality,  that  has  its  being 
only  in  our  own  shifting  thoughts.  He  is  the  most  independ- 
ently personal  of  all  persons,  and  the  most  absolutely  living  of 
all  who  live.  He  is  '  the  First  and  the  Last,  and  the  Living 
One.'  He  is  so  near  us,  as  the  Son  of  God,  that  we  can  feel 
His  warm  breath  on  our  souls  ;  and,  as  the  Son  of  man,  He 
has  a  heart  like  these  hearts  of  ours — a  human  heart,  meek 
and  lowly,  tender,  kind,  and  sympathizing.  In  the  "Word — 
the  almost  viva  voce  utterance  of  Himself — His  arm  of  power 
is  stretched  forth  beside  you,  that  you  may  lean  on  it  with 
all  your  weight ;  and  in  the  Word,  also.  His  love  is  revealed, 
that  on  the  bosom  of  it  you  may  lay  your  aching  head,  and 
forget  your  sorrow  in  the  abundance  of  His  consolations.  The 
Living  One,  who  died,  we  must  contemplate — to  Him  we 
must  look,  that  we  may  be  weaned  and  won  over  wholly  to 
God — that  we  may  be  strengthened,  spiritualized,  and  sancti- 
fied. 

"  The  hope  of  seeing  you  this  summer  has  vanished.  The 
hope  of  meeting  when  the  Lord  comes,  through  His  grace, 

14* 


822  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON, 

remains.  Shall  we  be  all  holy  when  we  meet  again — holy  as 
He  is  holy  ?  It  would  be  a  hai^pier  meeting  than  any  could 
be  now." 

Anotlier  letter  closes  his  correspondence  from 
Southampton : — 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Southampton,  July  2,  1849. — 
Since  I  left  Dirleton  I  have  seen  proofs  of  the  growing  licen- 
tiousness of  these  perilous  times.  Sin  appears  to  be  walking 
abroad  with  more  than  its  former  effrontery.  My  own  heart 
tells  me,  alas  !  where  the  well-springs  are  of  the  moral  evil  that 
is  seen  in  the  world.  Inborn  sin,  how  active  !  how  watchful ! 
how  mighty  !  how  difficult  to  overcome  !  It  has  a  thousand 
disguises,  a  world  of  allurements,  a  more  than  magic  power  of 
fascination.  It  steals  into  the  bosom  of  every  thought — it 
clings,  like  a  viper,  to  the  hand  of  every  holy  endeavor.  Would 
that  it  were  slain  !  '  0  wretched  man  !'  has  found,  since  it  first 
came  forth  from  the  heart  of  the  apostle,  an  echo  in  the  heart 
of  every  believer  ;  and  in  some  heart  will  it  ever  continue  to 
find  an  echo,  till  we  see  Jesus  face  to  face,  and  a  voice  come 
forth  from  the  heavens,  saying, '  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new.' 
Were  it  only  that  sin  might  be  utterly  and  forever  destroyed 
— were  it  for  nothing  else  whatever — we  should  have  cause 
enough  for  the  earnest  prayer,  '  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly !' " 

A  characteristic  little  incident  occurred  as  he  was 
leaving  the  hqiise  where  he  had  been  sojourning.  "  I 
hope  you  have  been  comfortable  during  your  visit," 
said  his  kind  host.  "Yes,"  was  his  reply,  "with  the 
exception  of  one  thing — I  have  been  annoyed  by  so 
many  people  continually  inquiring  about  my  health." 
*'  He  never  felt  comfortable,"  adds  our  correspondent, 


CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY.  323 

when  any  one  did  so.  I  recollect,  on  one  occasion 
ui  my  presence,  he  said  to  a  friend  of  mine,  *  I  shall 
siever  be  better  than  I  now  am  until  the  resurrection 
day' — meaning,  he  was  quite  happy  under  all  his  in- 
firmities." 

The  remaining  eight  months  of  his  active  ministry 
present  little  variety  of  incident.  They  were  occupied 
chiefly  with  the  care  of  the  precious  souls  committed 
to  his  pa'storal  charge.  Grimshaw  tells  us,  regarding 
his  dear  people  in  the  little  parish  of  Haworth,  that, 
of  the  greater  part  of  them,  so  far  as  man  could  judge, 
he  could  give  almost  as  particular  account  as  he  could 
of  himself  He  knew  whether  they  were  progressing 
or  declining.  By  his  frequent  visits  and  converse 
with  them,  he  was  acquainted  with  their  several  temp- 
tations, trials,  and  exercises,  both  personal  and  domes- 
tic, both  spiritual  and  temporal,  almost  as  intimately 
as  if  he  had  lived  in  their  families.  In  Dirleton  there 
was  formed,  secretly  and  unostentatiously — known,  in- 
deed, only  to  its  members  and  to  him  whom  most  of 
them  regarded  as  their  spiritual  father — a  little  circle 
of  believers,  with  whose  exercises,  and  trials,  and  tri- 
umphs of  faith  Mr.  Hewitson  was  not  less  familiar,  and 
for  whom  he  watched  daily  with  not  less  tender  solici- 
tude. These  were  the  Aarons  and  Hurs  of  his  minis- 
try :  held  up  by  their  pra3'ers  and  sympath}^,  he  ful- 
filled his  course.  As  each  new  convert  entered  the 
little  famil}^,  gladness  pervaded  all.  During  all  the 
time  of  his  ministry  at  Dirleton,  he  was  never  without 


324  MEMOIR  OF  REV,   W.   H.   IIEWITSOF, 

at  least  one  anxious  souL     And  rarely  did  the  anxiety 
fail  to  issue  in  true  peace. 

A  series  of  extracts  will  open  up  a  glimpse  of  his 
closing  wiiiter.  The  first  indirectly  indicates  a  char- 
acteristic of  his  own  ministry,  already  often  noticed : — - 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Dirleton,  September  13,  1849. 
— Having  the  prospect  of  so  soon  seeing  you,  and  speaking 
face  to  face,  I  shall  only  say  at  present,  in  connection  with  min- 
isterial instrumentality — what  occurred  to  my  mind  this  morn- 
ing during  breakfast — that  a  well-tuned  violin  is  not  less  neces- 
sary to  the  musical  performer,  than  a  heart  in  unison  with  the 
heart  of  God  is  to  the  preacher  of  the  gospel.  The  skill  of  a 
Paganini  will  be  vain,  if  the  instrument  be  out  of  tune  ;  the  la- 
bor of  the  evangelist  will  be  no  less  vain,  so  far  as  the  personal 
element  of  his  instrumentahty  is  concerned,  unless  his  heart  be 
harmonized  by  the  Spirit  of  truth  and  love.  We  must,  so  to 
speak,  tune  the  instrument  by  means  of  meditation  and  prayer. 
Preaching  will  then  be  like  a  sweet  melody  in  the  ears  of  both 
God  and  man." 

He  addresses  other  friends  thus  : — 

"  To  J.  H.  Spencer,  Esq.,  London. — Dirleton,  September 
15,  1849. — My  dear  brother, — My  passing  visit  to  you  seems 
now  to  have  been  merely  a  pleasant  dream.  Everything  here 
is  more  like  a  dream  than  a  reality.  "When  the  Lord  comes, 
but  not  till  then,  will  the  hearts  of  His  people  be  made  fully 
and  fibidingly  glad.  May  we  be  ready  among  bis  people  to 
welcome  Him  when  He  comes  !  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  watch 
in  this  sleeping  world." 

"  To  Mr.  David  Sandeman,  Student  of  Divinity,  Edin- 
burgh.— Dirleton,  September  20,  1849. — My  dear  friend, — It 
will  be  sweet  to  be  at  home  with  the  all-lovely  One,  our  Elder 
Brother.     Ci  for  vaster  lonofinscs  of  natural  affection  after  Him 


METHOD    WITH   THE   YOUXG.  325 

— intenser  longings  to  see  Him  as  He  is !  How  I  love  Him 
for  His  sweet,  infinite  holiness,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  only 
gives  me  a  glimpse  of  that !  I  feel  then  as  if  I  could  not  love 
Him,  but  for  His  sweet,  deep,  wonderful,  and  divine  holiness. 
What  a  heaven  it  would  be  to  be  like  Him  !  What  a  heaven, 
to  have  fellowship  with  those  who  bear  most  of  His  likeness  ! 
But  it  is  the  heaven  of  heavens  to  have  unhindered,  free,  full, 
heart-in-heart  communion  with  Himself, 

"  The  Lord  of  the  harvest  needs  reapers  with  sharp  sickles. 
The  time  is  short :  soon  many  will  be  saying,  in  dolorous  ac- 
cents, '  The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are 
not  saved.' " 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Dirhton,  October  12,  1849. — 
....  It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  with  you  at  the  com- 
munion next  month.  My  communion  is  to  be  on  the  fourth 
Sabbath.  On  the  third  Sabbath  I  have  to  preach,  if  I  can  get 
away,  to  the  children  in  Salton  and  Haddington.  Here,  at 
present,  those  who  are  in  the  Lord  seem  to  be  going  on  their 
way  steadily  towards  Zion  ;  and  I  do  trust  that  they  are  pray- 
ing for  a  work  of  revival  in  the  place.  As  a  minister,  I  feel 
the  need  of  being  more  abundantly  replenished  with  gifts  and 
graces  suitable  to  the  work,  by  the  Spirit  of  Pentecost.  Why 
are  we  not  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Why  do  we 
not  speak  with  a  wisdom  and  spirit  which  none  would  be  able 
to  resist  ?  Having  such  promises,  why  have  we  such  inade- 
quate reahzations  in  our  experience  ? — ^Ever  yours  affectionately, 

"W.  H.  H." 

The  sermon  to  children  noticed  in  the  last  extract 
was  one  of  a  series  preached  by  him  that  winter  in 
all  the  congregations  of  the  presbytery.  "  He  had  a 
gentle  and  winning  manner,"  says  Mr.  Dodds,  "of 
speaking  to  the  young.  He  usually  addressed  them 
directly  upon  the  state  of  their  souls,  and  upon  the 


826  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

love  of  Christ ;  but  in  a  tone  of  such  tenderness,  and 
with  such  simplicity  of  speech,  as  arrested  their  atten- 
tion, and  often  moved  them  to  tears."  It  may  be 
added,  that  he  preached  to  them,  as  to  others,  in  the 
hope  and  expectation  of  conversions.  He  aimed  at 
nothing  less  than  to  win  their  precious  souls.  A 
specimen  of  his  method  with  them  occurs  in  a  letter 
to  a  Sabbath-class  in  Edinburgh,  written  by  him 
from  Madeira : — 

"  I  have  been  requested  by  my  dear  friend,  your  Sabbath- 
school  teacher,  to  address  to  you  a  few  words  respecting  the 
salvation  of  your  souls.  May  the  Holy  Spirit  bless  to  you 
what  I  write ! 

"  The  place  where  I  now  am  is  a  far-off  island  of  the  sea ; 
but  though  it  be  far  off,  it  is  yet  surrounded  by  the  same  great 
sea  which  washes  the  shores  of  Scotland,  your  dear  native 
land  and  mine.  Yes,  that  same  ocean,  which  you  can  so  easily 
go  and  bathe  in,  reaches  to  this  island,  and  the  people  here 
can  easily  go  and  bathe  in  it  too.  How  like  the  blood  of 
Christ !  For  the  blood  of  Christ  is  like  a  great  ocean — one  so 
very  great,  that  it  comes  close  to  your  very  door  in  Scotland, 
and  close  to  the  very  door  of  poor  guilty  sinners  here  in  Ma- 
deira, so  that  you  and  they  alike  may  go  into  it,  and  bathe 
your  souls  in  it,  and  come  out  whiter  than  snow. 

"  Christ  has  many  in  Madeira  who  believe  in  His  name,  and 
have  washed  themselves  and  made  them  white  in  His  blood. 
Now  I'll  tell  you  what  they  think  about  Christ.  They  arc 
hated,  and  threatened,  and  reproached,  and  buffeted,  and  per- 
secuted for  Christ's  sake ;  but  they  think  Him  so  worthy,  and 
feel  Him  to  be  so  precious,  that  they  bear  all  with  patience,  and 
are  willing  to  bear  more.  You  cannot  speak  to  many  of  them 
about  the  love  of  Christ  in  dying  for  sinners  like  them,  without 
seeing  them  melted  into  tears  of  gratitude  and  love.     And 


METHOD  WITH  THE  YCUNG.  327 

when  you  speak  to  them  about  Christ's  coming  again  in  glory, 
to  '  receive  His  people  to  Himself,  that  they  may  be  with  Him 
where  He  is,'  you  may  see  their  countenances  lighted  up  with 
joy,  and  their  hearts  seem  to  bound  with  exultation  at  the 
thought  of  being  with  Jesus  forever  and  ever. 

"  They  are  not,  like  you,  natives  of  a  favored  land,  in  which 
every  one  is  free  to  read  and  obey  the  Word  of  God.  They 
are  in  danger  of  their  lives  if  they  be  found  coming  to  hear 
the  gospel  preached,  and  to  sit  at  the  Lord's  table.  The  time 
seems  to  be  near  when  they  may  have  to  die  by  the  hands  of 
cruel  men,  for  following  the  Lord  fully  ;  but  '  worthy  is  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain  ;'  and  they  '  take  up  their  cross,'  wilHng  to 
'  follow  Him  whithersoever  he  goeth,'  even  though  He  lead 
them  unto  death. 

"  From  what  I  tell  you  about  them,  you  will  understand 
what  they  think  of  Jesus.  The  Holy  Spirit,  who  delights  in 
glorifying  Jesus,  has  shown  to  them  the  Saviour's  love  and 
righteousness  and  glory.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  taken  them  and 
bathed  them  in  the  blood  of  Christ;  He  has  given  them  a 
simple,  simple,  childlike  faith,  and  taught  them  to  place  all 
confidence  in  the  love  of  God ;  He  has  taught  them  to  look 
upon  Jesus  as  very  precious,  and  to  bear  with  patience  and 
with  the  hope  of  glory  all  that  they  suffer  for  Jesus'  sake. 

"  Perhaps  you  sometimes  feel  little  delight  in  hearing  the 
Word  of  God  read  and  taught — perhaps  the  worldly  ease  and 
comfort  which  you  have  in  Scotland  are  a  snare  to  your  souls. 
Surely,  then,  what  I  am  going  to  tell  you  will  make  you 
ashamed  of  being  negligent  and  careless  about  the  things 
which  concern  God's  glory  and  your  eternal  peace. 

"  There  are  some  people  who  live  so  far  from  where  I  live, 
that  it  takes  nearly  five  hours  to  walk  the  distance.  They  are 
so  anxious  to  hear  the  Word  of  God  preached,  that  they  in- 
tend, on  a  certain  day  this  week,  to  leave  home  about  mid- 
night, and  to  be  here  about  sunrise,  and  to  wait  in  an  empty 
house  till  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where  public  worship 


328  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

will  take  place.  You  -will  ask  me  why  they  intend  to  leave 
home  so  early.  It  is  because  they  are  afraid  of  their  enemies, 
and  seek  shelter  from  persecution  under  the  darkness  and 
silence  of  the  night,  when  they  come  to  hear  the  gospel.  Re- 
member this,  whenever  your  souls  become  drowsy,  and  careless 
about  what  you  hear. 

"  Ah  1  think  of  the  hell  on  the  edge  of  which  you  are  stand- 
ing ;  think  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  who  is  showing  you  His 
wounds,  and  caUing  you  to  hide  in  them  and  be  safe ;  think  of 
Satan,  who  is  cunningly  standing  between  you  and  Jesus,  that 
you  may  not  see  the  Saviour's  wounds,  nor  be  melted  by  the 
power  of  His  love. 

"  Were  Christ,  after  calHng  on  you  so  long,  and  seeking  so 
often  to  save  you,  but  all  in  vain — were  he  to  turn  away  from 
you  now  with  the  terrible  wrath  of  despised  and  injured  love, 
saying,  '  Let  them  alone !' — dear,  precious  souls,  your  doom 
would  be  truly  sad  ! 

"  Before  it  be  too  late — before  Jesus  hides  himself  from  you, 
to  come  and  speak  to  you  with  '  the  still  small  voice'  of  His 
love  no  more — while  yet  you  may  be  saved — I  send  to  you 
across  the  seas  an  earnest  cry,  '  Flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ; 
flee  to  Jesus — He  will  receive  you  with  open  arms ;  come  and 
bring  with  you  to  Him  all  your  sins — He  will  in  no  wise  cast 
you  out.' 

"  Christ  has  one  hand  upon  me  here,  and  another  upon  you 
in  Scotland.  He  is  looking  upon  me  now  while  I  write  this, 
and  He  will  look  upon  tou  when  you  are  reading  it,  or  hear- 
ing it  read.  I  will  put  the  letter  into  His  hand,  and  leave  it 
there :  it  may  be  that  when,  in  His  providence.  He  brings  its 
cry  to  your  ears,  you  will  hearken,  and  flee  to  Him  for  safety. 

"  He  is  willing  and  mighty  to  save.  I  will  give  you  a  proof 
of  this.  Less  than  three  weeks  since,  a  woman,  who  loves 
Christ  and  believes  in  His  Word,  told  me  that  her  husband 
buffeted  her  and  maltreated  her  cruelly  for  Christ's  sake — that 
he  raged  and  was  mad  against  the  truth.     A  few  days  after- 


LETTER  TO   HIS   MOTHER.  329 

wards,  a  good  man,  who  was  working  along  with  him,  told 
him  solemnly  that  if  he  continued  as  he  was  he  would  go  to 
hell.  The  words  went  to  the  heart  of  the  miserable  sinner, 
and,  in  fear  of  '  the  wrath  to  come,'  he  fled  to  Jesus.  He 
found  Jesus  willing,  as  well  as  able,  to  save  him,  and  he  is  now 
a  changed  man,  rejoicing  in  the  Lord.  He  now  prays  in  His 
family,  and  sings  the  praise  of  God. 

"  What  the  blessed  Jesus  does  for  sinners  in  Madeira,  He  is 
willing  and  able  to  do  for  sinners  in  Scotland — ^willing  and  able 
to  do  for  you.  Only  '  taste,  and  you  will  see  that  He  is  gracious ;' 
only  believe,  and  you  shall  be  saved  ;  just  go  into  the  great  sea 
of  Immanuel's  blood,  and  bathe  your  souls  in  it,  and  you  shall 
be  cleansed  from  all  your  guilt." 

"  A  look,  a  single  look"  writes  Vinet,  "  rids  of  all 
fears  but  the  fear  of  doing  evil."  The  same  simplicity 
of  faith  Mr.  Hewitson  continues  to  urge  upon  all  to 
whom  he  preaches  or  writes.  A  touching  example 
occurs  in  the  next  letter : — 

"To  HIS  Mother. — Dirleton,  October  18,  1849. — We  are 
all  grieved  on  account  of  your  illness,  and  pray  God  to  restore 
you,  if  it  be  His  holy  will.  Long  have  I  been  waiting  for  an  op- 
portunity of  visiting  you ;  and  it  is  no  small  cause  of  grief  to 
me,  that  I  have  such  preaching  engagements  for  next  week  in 
Edinburgh  as  leave  me  little  hope  of  being  able  to  get  away ; 
otherwise,  I  should,  God  willing,  be  in  DalmeUington  next 
Monday  evening. 

"  My  dear  mother,  you  hear  the  sweet  voice  of  Jesus,  saying, 
'  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.*  A 
look  saved  the  Israelites,  when  they  were  wounded  by  the  fiery 
serpent ;  and  a  look  can  save  our  souls — a  look  at  Jesus.  Oh ! 
I  fondly  trust  you  can  look  to  the  wounded  Jesus,  and  say, '  My 
Lord,  and  my  God.'  The  love  of  God  the  Father,  in  giving  His 
Son  to  die,  is  enough  to  give  you  confidence,  and  to  draw  your 


330  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

heart  out  towards  Him.  The  sight  of  God's  love  in  the  wounds 
of  His  bleeding  Son,  is  a  sight  well  fitted  to  touch  the  heart  and 
melt  it,  and  fill  it  with  hatred  of  its  sins,  and  make  it  to  rest  on 
Jesus.  0  that  Jesus  may  be  very  near  you  !  and  that,  showing 
you  His  hands  and  His  side.  He  may  say, '  Peace  be  unto  thee.' 
O  that  He  may  breathe  on  you  with  His  blessed  lips,  and  give 
you  the  Holy  Ghost !  He  is  touched  with  compassion  to  sinners. 
He  is  pleading,  a  High  Priest  for  all  who  come  by  Him  to  the 
Father.  Draw  near,  then,  my  dear  mother,  with  a  true  heart, 
and  in  full  assurance  of  faith." 

In  another  letter  we  have  an  incidental  notice  of 
his  ministrations  at  the  weekly  prayer-meeting : — 

"To  James  Crawford,  Jun.,  Esq.,  W.S.,  Edinburgh. — 
Dirletoti,  December  14,  1849. — I  received  your  kind  note,  and 
thank  you  for  having  got  the  other  volume  of  Morell.  Next 
time  I  come  to  Edinburgh,  I  shall  bring  the  first  volume  along 
with  me,  which  I  have  finished. 

"  Last  night,  in  the  prayer-meeting,  we  had,  as  the  subject  of 
meditation,  the  character  of  Moses,  as  it  was  brought  out  in  the 
wilderness.  These  features  of  his  character  especially  were  dwelt 
on : — 1.  His  subjection  to  God's  revealed  will ;  2.  His  subjection 
to  God's  leadings  in  all  his  ways ;  3.  His  contentment  in  all  con- 
ditions ;  4.  His  long-suffering ;  5.  His  meekness ;  6.  His  godly 
indignation  against  sin ;  7.  His  zeal  for  God's  glory  ;  8.  His  faith  ; 
9.  His  earnestness  in  intercessory  prayer;  10.  His  holiness, 
breathing  itself  forth  in  aspirations  like  this — '  I  beseech  Thee, 
show  me  Thy  glory  ;'  11.  His  close  and  constant  fellowship  with 
God.  In  all  these  respects  we  see  One  infinitely  better  and 
greater  than  Moses,  when  we  turn  to  His  antitype,  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.  Here  we  find  all  that  is  fair,  lovely,  glorious,  and  ex- 
cellent— all  in  an  infinite  degree  of  perfection.  Looking  at  Him 
may  we  be  changed  into  his  likeness !" 

His  health   was   beginning  to   exhibit  symptoms 


PROPOSAL  TO  GO  ABROAD.         331 

more  than  ordinarily  alarming.     "We  find  him  allud- 
ing to  it  thus : — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Dirlcton,  December  18,  1849. 
— You  kindly  inquire  regarding  my  health.  I  have  had 
hemorrhage  repeatedly  since  June  last.  Disease  seems  to  be 
making  progress  in  the  chest ;  but,  if  so,  it  is  doing  only  the 
■will  of  the  Lord  who  sent  it.  In  the  Lord's  hands  our  con- 
cerns and  interests  are  safe  eternally. 

Fearing  the  effects  of  another  winter  and  spring  in 
Scotland,  especially  on  the  east  coast,  some  friends  had 
urged  a  temporary  sojourn  in  Malta,  offering  to  pay  all 
expenses.  But  he  declined.  "  No, "  we  remember  him 
saying  one  day  about  this  period,  "  I  cannot,  I  dare 
not,  voluntarily  leave  my  post  here  on  account  of 
health.  I  do  not  see  my  way  to  go."  Similar  was 
the  resolution  of  Neff,  when  his  friends,  seeing  him 
gradually  sinking  under  his  overwhelming  labors, 
represented  to  him  the  danger  of  soon  wearing  him- 
self out: — "  How,"  said  he,  "can  I  fold  my  arms,  and 
sink  into  repose,  when  I  see  around  me  so  extensive 
a  field  of  labor,  and  so  few  laborers  ?"  The  wisdom 
of  the  decision  in  both  instances  may  be  justly  ques- 
tioned. Satan  has  his  snares  for  the  conscience.  Did 
he  not  here  tempt  and  triumph,  as  an  angel  of  light  ? 

But  whilst  the  outward  man  perished,  the  inward 
man  was  renewed  day  by  day.  The  flesh  was  failing, 
but  the  soul  "mounted  up  on  wings  as  eagles  :" — 

"To  A  Friend  in  Malta. — Birleton,  December  18,  1849. 

14 


332  MEMOIR   OF  REV.    W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

— When  I  say  that  I  scarcely  ever  know  wbat  it  is  to  bt;  alto- 
gether free  from  a  sense  of  bodily  weariness,  you  will  see  that 
my  labors  leave  me  but  little  strength  for  correspondence.  It 
is  sometimes  my  desire  to  have  more  strength  for  the  Lord's 
work,  but  His  arrangements  are  the  wisest  and  the  best :  the 
more  of  weakness  and  weariness  now,  the  more  sweet  that  rest 
of  God  into  which  we  shall  by-and-by  enter. 

"  The  Lord  has  in  His  view  the  part  of  the  spiritual  temple 
which  we  are  to  occupy  forever ;  and  to  fit  us  for  our  place  is 
the  end  of  all  His  dealings  with  us  during  this  present  state  of 
preparation.  We  would  fain  choose  for  ourselves  when  '  the 
flesh'  is  up  and  working ;  but  when  grace  is  prevalent,  we  lie 
quietly  under  the  Lord's  hand,  and  delight  in  hearing  His 
voice,  saying  to  us,  '  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.' 

"  Your  comfort  and  enlargement  of  heart,  in  walking  with 
God,  will  depend  not  a  little  on  your  rightly  distinguishing 
between  your  sins  and  your  sorrows.  To  take  all  your  natural, 
it  may  be  sometimes  your  Christ-like,  sorrows  to  the  blood  of 
atonement,  as  if  they  were  altogether  sinful,  would  have  the 
effect,  not  of  softening  your  heart,  but  of  hardening  it — not  of 
bringing  light,  but  darkness  into  your  soul — not  of  augmenting, 
but  of  diminishing,  your  love  to  Jesus. 

"  0  how  Satan  strives  to  make  us  believe  that  our  Lord  is 
'  an  austere  man  !'  How  he  labors  to  give  us  false  views  and 
impressions  of  the  character  of  our  Lord  ?  Believe  nothing 
about  Christ  which  the  Word  of  God  does  not  warrant.  You 
know  well  what  Christ  is — you  have  been  in  His  company — 
you  have  tasted  that  He  is  gracious — your  experience  has 
taught  you  that  He  does  sympathize  with  you  in  all  your  af 
flictions.  Come,  then,  to  Him,  with  all  your,  sorrows,  and,  oh  ! 
you  will  have  good  cause  to  say  that  He  who  wept  at  the  grave 
of  Lazarus  is  still  the  same — no  less  God-like  in  His  power  to 
comfort,  and  no  less  man-like  in  the  flowing  forth  of  His  com- 
passions. So  long  as  sorrow  is  bounded  or  fenced  about  with 
a  gracious  disposition  to  acquiesce  in  and  approve  of  God's  ar- 


TEIALS  AND  SINS — DISTINGUISHED.  333 

rangement?,  so  long  will  tBe  Lord  show  Himself  ready  to  sym- 
pathize, and  to  wipe  away  the  silent  tear. 

"  Forgive  rae  for  writing  thus,  as  it  were,  in  the  style  of  ex- 
hortation. I  remember  that  sometimes  you  repented  in  Ma- 
deira of  what  you  thought  sinful,  when  I  could  see  nothing 
sinful  in  the  matter,  but  only  something  that  was  trying,  and 
which,  therefore,  it  was  natural  to  feel.  Grace  comes  not  to 
destroy  our  susceptibilities  of  pleasure  and  pain,  of  joy  and 
sorrow,  but  to  refine  and  sanctify  them,  and  bring  them  into 
harmony  with  love  to  God. 

"  If  it  be  the  Lord's  will  to  remove  those  who  are  so  dear  to 
you  from  Malta,  then  what  the  Lord  requires  of  you  is  unmur- 
muring acquiescence  in  His  holy  will.  He  does  not  require 
insensibility  to  the  pain  of  parting,  or  the  trial  of  protracted 
separation.  He  has  no  delight  in  callousness  of  heart.  He 
loves  the  sensibility  which,  with  all  its  tenderness,  and  when 
most  lacerated,  will  yet  say,  '  Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be  done : 
Father,  glorify  Thy  name.' 

"  You  have  many  trials.  In  your  thoughts  keep  them  alto- 
gether distinct  from  your  sins.  Lay  your  sins  on  Christ  as  a 
sacrifice ;  and  lay  your  trials  on  Him  as  a  kind  and  sympa- 
thizing Friend — a  Brother  made  for  the  day  of  adversity. 

"  Your  last  contained  not  a  little  that  deeply  interested  me, 
regarding  your  sanctification-struggles.  Be  of  good  cheer,  and 
wait  on  the  Lord ;  your  struggles  ere  long  will  have  a  happy 
issue.  The  more  you  feel  of  corruption  working,  the  more 
blessed  and  refreshing  will  be  the  anticipation  of  the  state  of 
perfected  holiness.  To  be  altogether  disburdened  of  this  body 
of  death — that  will  be  heaven.  To  be  Christ-like  in  every 
feature  and  lineament,  in  every  desire  of  the  heart,  and  every 
movement  of  the  will ;  to  be  fit  for  close,  uninterrupted  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son  ; — that  will  be — 0  how 
great ! — compensation  for  the  painfulness  of  present  conflict 
with  indwelling  sin. 

"  That  our  sanctification  may  go  sweetly  forward,  we  must 


oo-i  MEMOIIi  OF  ItEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON, 

ever  bear  on  our  hearts  the  words  of  Jesus — '  Without  me  ye 
can  do  nothing.'  What  makes  our  struggles  against  s-in  often 
more  difficult  and  painful  is,  that  we  forget  Him  who  is  our 
sanctification,  and  set  our  face  against  the  enemy  in  our  own 
strength.  Nothing  can  overcome  what  is  earthly  in  us  except 
what  is  heavenly  ;  and  what  is  heavenly  in  us  is  not  merely 
our  renewed  nature,  but  more  especially  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 
is  come  from  heaven.  Yonder,  in  the  heart  of  Christ,  is  our 
sanctification  as  in  its  fountain  ;  here,  in  our  hearts,  is  sanctifi- 
cation as  in  its  stream.  If  we  cut  ourselves  off  by  unbelief 
from  the  fountain,  the  stream  will  cease  to  flow.  May  the  day 
soon  dawn  when  the  stream  and  the  fountain  shall  be  liable  to 
sundrance  no  more  !  That  day  may  be  near  at  hand.  Let  us 
watch  till  then. — Yours  ever  affectionately  till  He  come, 

"  W.  H.  Hewitson." 

The  next  letter  recalls  his  early  days.  It  is  ad- 
dressed to  a  college  friend.  In  the  interval  indicated, 
how  blessed  a  race  he  lias  run ! 

"  To  James  P.  Haksard,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Brighton. — Dirle- 
ton,  January  21,  1850. — My  very  dear  friend, — I  was  surprised 
as  well  as  delighted,  by  the  arrival  of  your  letter  from  Brighton. 
For  years  I  have  not  had  means  of  hearing  about  you,  and 
could  not  tell  whether  you  were  still  among  the  living,  or  had 
fallen  asleep.  I  am  glad  that  you  have  returned  in  safety  to 
your  native  land,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  now  remain.  Do 
you  intend  to  do  so  ?  '  The  time  is  short ;'  and  wherever  be 
our  earthly  tabernacles,  or  however  far  asunder,  the  day  is  at 
hand  when  we  shall  meet,  I  trust,  according  to  the  promise  of 
the  gospel,  in  the  presence  of  our  blessed  Lord. 

"  Since  we  met,  I  have  had  many  trials,  and  seen  great  af- 
flictions, especially  of  a  spiritual  kind.  I  am  located  here,  by 
the  Lord's  good  hand  upon  me,  at  a  distance  of  twenty  miles 
almost  due  east  from  Edinburgh.     Here,  as  a  minister  of  the 


SECOyD   ADVENT — LECTURE.  S35 

gospel,  in  the  communion  of  the  Free  Church,  I  have  been  la- 
boring for  about  two  years.  Before  that,  I  was  in  another 
and  distant  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard. 

"  My  dear  Hansard,  the  interval  since  we  met  is  so  long, 
that  now  we  ought  to  be  far  forward  in  the  divine  life,  and  ac- 
quainted experimentally  with  the  things  that  are  freely  given 
to  us  of  God,  as  we  were  not  in  these  former  days.  It  is  good 
to  be  going  forward  and  forward  through  Baca's  Valley,  dig- 
ging up  wells  as  we  go — to  be  pressing  upward  from  strength 
to  strength,  till  we  stand  perfect  before  God  in  Zion. — Sincerely 
and  aflfectionately  yours,  W.  H.  Hewitson." 

Notwithstanding  liis  increasing  weakness,  he  took 
part  in  a  course  of  lectures  that  winter  in  Edinburgh 
on  the  Lord's  Second  Coming.  He  prepared  the  lec- 
ture with  great  care,  and  delivered  it  to  two  successive 
audiences.  "  The  ardor  of  his  advocacy  of  this  doc- 
trine," says  Mr.  Dodds,  "  offended  some  ;  but  this  was 
the  vehemence  of  strong  conviction  and  true  sincerity. 
What  he  felt  to  be  so  precious,  and  full  of  quicken- 
ing influences  to  his  own  soul,  "with  characteristic 
energy  he  sought  to  establish  in  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  all  his  friends.  Prophecy  was  his  favorite  study  ; 
and,  whatever  many  may  think  of  his  views,  that  study 
was  to  him  the  source  of  unspeakable  joy,  and  the 
greatest  spiritual  refreshment.  Were  any  doctrine  to 
be  judged  of  by  the  spirituality  of  him  who  believes 
in  it,  the  doctrine  of  the  Advent,  as  he  held  it,  would 
indeed  receive  the  strongest  possible  confirmation 
from  his  life  and  character." 

The  lecture  in  Edinburgh  was  his  last  public  work 


336  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

out   of   his   own   pulpit.      On    returning   home   he 
wrote : — 

"To  A  FftiEND  IN  Edinburgh. — Dirleton,  February  18, 
1850. — Last  week  I  was  two  nights  in  Edinburgh,  but  my  en- 
gagements were  such  as  to  require  all  my  physical  strength, 
so  that  I  could  not  have  the  pleasure  of  making  you  a  visit. 
Whatever  be  the  cause  of  it,  I  can  no  longer  hide  it  from  my- 
self, that  my  strength  has  of  late  been  rapidly  sinking. 

"  Daily  I  endeavor  to  remember  you  in  my  prayers.  The 
Lord  Himself  is  your  hiding-place  and  your  shield  :  He  will 
preserve  you  from  trouble,  and  compass  you  about  with  songs 
of  deliverance.  Cannot  you  say  with  Paul,  '  I  know  in  whom  I 
have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep  that 
which  I  have  committed  to  Him  against  that  day  ?'  Faithful 
is  He  who  stands  in  the  place  of  your  Surety,  and  faithful  also 
is  God  the  Father,  who  has  called  you  into  the  fellowship  of 
His  Son.  But  then,  dear  friend,  with  implicit  confidence  m 
your  God  and  Saviour, 

*  Think  what  Spirit  dwells  within  thee ; 
Think  what  Father's  love  is  thine ; 
Think  that  Jesus  died  to  win  thee ; 
Child  of  heaven,  canst  thou  repine ! 

'  Haste  thee  on  from  grace  to  glory, 

Arm'd  by  faith,  and  wing'd  by  prayer  ; 
Heav'n's  eternal  day's  before  thee, 

God's  own  hand  shall  guide  thee  there.' 

"  Ever  your  affectionate  friend,  W.  H.  Hewitson." 

His  ministry  was  now  drawing  near  a  close.  There 
is  an  affecting  pathos  in  the  following  notes.  He  was 
preparing  for  what  proved  to  be  his  last  communion : — 

"To  THE  Rev,  J.  Dodds. — Birleton,  February  18, 1850. — 
My  dear  brother, — My  communion  will   bp,  God  willing,  on 


LAST   COMMUNION.  33/ 

Sabbath  the  iOth  of  March.  I  hope  you  will  at  length  be  able 
to  assist  me  on  that  Sabbath  of  communion.  My  communions 
in  the  church  militant  will  in  all  likelihood  not  be  many.  My 
health  seems  to  be  speedily  declining.  Sometimes  rny  heart 
bounds  with  joy  at  the  thought  of  being  soon  present  with  the 
Lord.  Nevertheless,  I  should  rather  labor  on  earth  amidst 
hardship  and  trial  for  a  while  longer,  if  only  the  Lord  had  any 
end  to  serve  by  me  here  still ;  and  it  is  possible,  that  if  He 
bear  me  up  under  the  withering  influence  of  a  Dirleton  winter 
and  spring,  I  shall  recover,  amidst  the  genialities  of  summer 
air  and  sunshine,  much  of  the  strength  that  I  have  recently 
lost.  Meanwhile,  feverish  irritability,  nocturnal  perspirations, 
occasional  haemoptysis,  and  other  symptoms,  warn  me  that  the 
coming  of  death  may  be  previous  to  the  Coming  of  the  Lord. 
These  things  I  write  to  you  in  the  confidence  of  friendship : 
they  are  not  for  the  eai-s  of  strangers.  Ever  affectionately 
yours,  W.  H.  H." 

"  To  THE  Rev.  J.  Baillie. — Dirleton,  February  26, 1850. — 
My  dear  brother, — Your  letter,  which  I  had  this  morning, 
brought  me  a  great  disappointment.  The  interval  is  now  so 
brief,  that  I  may  be  left  without  help  on  the  Sabbath.  But  1 
look  to  the  Lord.  I  trust  He  will,  even  at  so  late  an  hour, 
send  me  a  brother's  help.  Will  you  take  tlie  diet  on  the 
Thursday  evening  before  the  communion  ? 

"If  the  Lord  spare  me  till  then,  I  intend  to  go,  on  the  18th 
of  March,  to  Bruntsfield  Lodge,  and  spend  there  a  fortnight 
in  doing  nothing,  if  so  be  the  Lord  will  bless  the  rest  as  a 
means  of  enabling  me  to  weather  the  severities  yet  of  another 
spring,  and  to  set  my  face  to  the  labors  of  another  summer's 
campaign.  Like  a  wounded  soldier  in  the  camp  of  Jesus,  I 
must  retire,  at  least  for  the  time  mentioned,  from  the  field. 
The  cold  of  this  winter  seems  to  have  helped  me  well  forward 
on  my  way  to  the  valley,  which,  though  dark,  is  not  dreary  or 
dreadful  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus.     Yours  very  aftectionately, 

"W.  H.  Hewitsok." 

15 


338  ME.MOIK   OF   REV.    W.    If.    IfEWlTSOJf, 

"To  iHE  Same. — Dirleton,  March  1,  1850. — After  getting 
your  first  note,  I  wrote  to  Kelso.  Mr.  Bonar  tells  me  that  lie 
had  refused  for  certain  reasons,  to  be  with  you  on  the  10th  of 
this  month,  and  that  these  reasons  were  still  as  strong  as  ever 
for  refusing  to  be  from  home  on  that  day.  But  considering 
the  special  claim  which,  in  my  present  circurastancesy  I  had  tc 
his  aid,  he  very  kindly  has  agreed  to  come,  and  he  says,  that 
he  is  sure  you,  knowing  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  would 
approve  of  his  doing  so. 

"  Your  second  note  breathes,  like  his,  a  spirit  of  brotherly 
love  and  sympathy,  which  I  deeply  feel,  and  trace  up  to  the 
fountain-head  of  it  in  the  heart  of  Jesus,  the  elder  Brother  of 
the  saints. 

"  In  haste,  and  hoping  that  you  will  eome  early,  I  am  yours 
very  affectionately,  W.  H.  H." 

Our  visit  that  week  to  Dirleton  we  sliall  not  soon 
forget.  The  reader  may  gather  the  impression  left  by 
it  from  the  following  jottings  taken  down  at  the  time  : — 

^^ March  Q. — We  went  to  Dirleton  at  four;  found 
dear  Hewitson  very  feeble  indeed — more  so  than  he 
has  ever  been  ;  seems  to  anticipate  possibility  of  his 
departure  within  a  month  ;  is  quite  happy  in  the  Lord. 

^^ March  7. — Had  much  conversation  to-day;  our 
dear  brother  very  animated,  and  all  his  words  fragrant. 
Spoke  again  and  again  on  necessity  of  looking,  not  at 
our  faith,  but  at  Christ — at  the  person  of  Christ ;  this 
gave  peace  and  joy,  but  faith  a  very  poor  thing  to 
look  at ;  nothing  but  a  broken  reed,  piercing  him  who 
leans  on  it. 

"  As  he  lay  on  the  sofa,  during  intervals  he  was  en- 
gaged in  preparation  of  sermon  for  Sabbath ;    was 


NOTES  OP   VISIT   rO   DIELETON.  339 

struck  witli  his  power  of  mental  abstraction  ;  he  was 
unable  to  write  a  sentence,  and  yet  he  advanced  as 
steadily  and  methodically  in  the  work  of  composition 
as  if  every  head  and  paragraph  had  been  written  as 
he  went  on. 

"  We  went  to  the  church  at  half-past  six;  never 
saw  clearer  tokens  of  the  Lord's  presence  in  a  congre- 
gation. 

"  After  coming  in,  and  as  w^e  were  sitting  in  the 
study,  one  of  his  people  called  to  speak  to  him  about 
a  neighbor  who  had  lately  been  awakened.  Mr. 
Hewitson  had  not  been  able  to  see  the  awakened  per- 
son personally,  and  had  sent  for  this  individual,  as  one 
in  whom  he  had  confidence,  to  give  a  message  suitable 
to  the  case ;  was  much  struck  with  his  skill  in  dealing 
with  the  case  ;  the  inquirer  had  been  grievously  vexed 
and  darkened  by  what  Hewitson  detected  to  be  mere 
suggestions  of  Satan ;  was  amazed  and  humbled  at 
the  masterly  and  tender  way  in  which  he  separated  the 
lies  of  Satan  from  the  heart's  own  suggestions,  show- 
ing that  the  sin  lay,  not  in  being  troubled  by  Satan's 
lying  insinuations,  but  in  listening  to  and  entertaining 
them  ;  and  telling  his  visitor  to  urge  on  the  inquirer 
the  glorious  grace  of  Christ,  and  to  bid  Satan  get  be- 
hind if  he  still  insinuated  that  the  Lord  was  not  wilhng 
to  welcome  instantly,  and  forgive  freely. 

"It  has  been  said  reproachfully,  but  with  too  much 
truth,  that  the  less  you  know  of  some  ministers  out  of 
the  pulpit  the  better.     Hoav  different  with  dear  Hew- 


340  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.    HEWITSON. 

itsoni  He  indeed  'walks  within  his  house  with  a 
perfect  heart.'  His  family  worship  especially — not 
a  dull,  dry,  tedious  form,  but  instinct  with  life  and 
freshness.  Why  ?  His  soul  always  at  the  fountain ; 
and  so  out  of  him  there  is  flowing  one  continuous 
stream  of  living  water. 

"  March  8. — We  leftDirleton  at  half-past  seven  A.  m. 
Much  refreshed  by  this  visit — never  otherwise  in 
coming  into  contact  with  that  holy  and  heavenly- 
minded  man. 

"  Invited  H.  to  take  his  intended  rest  at  Linlithgow ; 
but  he  fears  to  go  so  far  from  home,  as,  in  case  of  be- 
coming decidedly  worse,  he  should  wish  to  be  able 
instantly  to  return  and  die  among  his  people." 

The  communion  •  took  place  on  the  following  Sab- 
bath, March  10.  Mr,  Horatius  Bonar,  who  was  with 
him  on  the  occasion,  thus  notes  it : — 

"On  the  26th  of  February  he  wrote,  asking  me  to 
assist  him,  and  adding,  '  Now  I  am  too  feeble  in  body 
to  undertake  all  the  service  myself.  This  winter 
seems  to  have  done  more  than  any  former  one  to  has- 
ten me  forward  to  the  end  of  my  journey.'  And  on 
the  1st  of  March  he  Avrote  to  me  again,  making  ar- 
rangements as  to  his  communion,  and  referring,  at  the 
close,  to  his  sinking  condition  of  body :  '  Unless  my 
strength  be  still  farther  reduced,  I  shall  take  my  own 
share  of  the  communion  services.  Nightly  perspira- 
tions have  been  weakening  me  much  of  late  ;  but  it  is 
well,' 


NOTES  BY  REV.   HORATIUS  BONAR.  841 

"  I  went  to  Dirleton  on  Saturday  the  9tli,  and,  ar- 
riving there  towards  evening,  along  with  our  mutual 
friend  Mr.  James  Crawford,  found  him  sitting  on  the 
sofa,  feeble  indeed,  and  emaciated,  but  not  so  much  so 
as  I  had  expected.  He  had  his  Bible  in  his  hand,  and, 
after  friendly  greetings,  he  turned  to  a  passage  which 
he  had  been  reading;  and  this,  along  with  one  or 
two  others,  furnished  material  for  conversation  dur- 
ing tea  and  afterwards.  He  was  most  peaceful  and 
cheerful,  expressing  his  hope  that  he  should  be  able  to 
take  the  communion  services  on  the  morrow. 

"  He  was  not  able  to  rise  to  breakfast  next  day ;  but 
a  little  before  eleven  o'clock  I  found  him  all  ready  to 
set  off  to  church.  We  walked  together  slowly,  and 
he  seemed  to  enjoy  the  freshness  of  the  morning, 
with  its  sweet  Sabbath  calm.  He  spoke  to  me  of  the 
sermon  he  had  been  preparing,  expressing  a  little 
anxiety  about  it,  as  he  had  not  been  able  to  write, 
from  his  great  weakness.  He  spoke  strongly  as  to  the 
duty  of  thorough  preparation  for  the  pulpit,  but  on 
the  present  occasion  put  himself  wholly  into  the 
hands  of  God,  feeling  that  it  was  He  who  had  seen 
meet  to  prevent  his  more  full  preparation.  His  con- 
scientiousness in  this  respect  struck  me  much. 

"  We  prayed  together  in  the  vestry,  and  he  went 
up  to  the  pulpit  with  some  apparent  strength.  His 
countenance,  at  all  times  pale  and  thin,  was  now  un- 
usually so ;  yet  he  gave  out  the  psalm  and  prayed 
with  a  clear  and  unbroken  voice.     His  text  was 


342  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Micah  ii.  10,  'Arise  ye,  and  depart,  for  this  is  not 
your  rest.'  He  spoke  of  tlie  desire  for  rest  exhibited 
in  the  saints  from  the  beginning.  Lamech  called  his 
son  Noah,  i.  e.,  '  rest,'  in  token  of  his  desire  and  hope ; 
but  he  found  none  here.  It  was  for  rest  that  Lot  went 
to  the  plain  of  Sodom ;  but  he  found  none.  It  was 
for  rest  that  Jacob  went  down  into  Egypt;  but  he 
found  none.  Even  in  the  land  of  promise,  Imman- 
uel's  land,  there  was  no  rest  for  the  saints.  Micah's 
words  were  spoken  long  after  the  settlement  in  that 
land.  Worldly  men'  find  no  rest  here,  in  this  object 
or  that,  this  friendship  or  that.  Eiches  take  wings, 
friends  depart,  No  rest !  The  children  of  God  have 
no  rest,  either,  in  this  world.  Christ  found  no  rest 
here — driven  about,  tempted,  persecuted.  So  with 
the  saint.  He  cannot  find  rest  in  such  a  world  as  this. 
To  live  in  a  world  where  there  is  not  the  love  of 
God  is  awful.*  Arise,  and  depart ;  look  to  the  cross ; 
come  to  the  crucified  One.  Press  on.  Get  free  from 
that  weight  of  sin.  See  that  the  inward  man  is  re- 
newed day  by  day.  The  rest  hereafter,  when  Christ 
comes  again. 

"He  presided  at  the  first  table;  and,  at  the  close, 
he  summed  up  all  with  an  address  on  these  words, 
'  As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness  ; 

*  "  I  remember  well  how  he  paused  for  a  moment  here,  and  then 
spoke  in  the  most  solemn  way  to  the  ungodly.  He  told  them  that  it 
was  agony  to  a  saint  to  live  among  the  ungodly.  He  spoke  with 
great  emphasis  and  power  on  tliis  point  for  several  minutes." 


NOTES  BY  REV.  UORATIUS  BONAE.      343 

i  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  thy  likeness.' — 
(Ps.  xvii.  15.) 

"He  was  able  to  attend  evening  service,  and  next 
•day  was  not  wor-se,  but  en  the  Monday  he  was  evi- 
dently beginning  to  feel  the  effects  of  the  labors  of  the 
previous  day.  He  was  able,  however,  to  converse, 
and,  as  usual,  it  was  on  the  Word  of  God.  He  lived 
on  it ;  he  fed  on  it .;  it  was  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  his 
heart. 

"That  Sabbath  was  a  solemn  day.  The  simple 
country  church,  the  rustic  audience  with  their  earnest 
looks,  the  white  tables  with  the  sacred  symbols,  the 
pale  death-like  countenance  of  the  minister,  speaking, 
as  many  felt,  or  at  least  feared,  for  the  last  time,  and 
partaking  with  them  of  the  bread  and  wine,  perhaps 
for  the  last  time,  till  he  should  drink  it  new  with 
them  in  the  kingdom  ; — all  these  things  threw  a 
solemnity,  a  sacredness,  a  heavenliness  over  it,  which 
one  would  not  willingly  forget,  even  if  they  ever 
could." 

He  now  left  home  for  a  few  weeks,  as  the  only 
ineans  of  obtaining  entire  rest,  and  also  to  escape  the 
prevailing  eastern  gales,  so  trying  to  his  feeble  chest. 
The  pause  he  felt  to  be  a  solemn  one.  Shall  it  restore 
hjm  once  more  to  his  watch-tower  ?  Or  shall  it  sum- 
mon him  to  his  heavenly  home  ?  Calmly  abiding  the 
Lord's  decision,  he  writes  : — 

"  To  HIS  Sister,  at  Dirleton. — Bruntsfield  Lodge,  Edin- 
burgh, Mar:h  27,  1850. — I  had  J 's  letter  yesterday  morn- 


;344  ME^EOIR   OF   EEV.   V^.   II.    IIEWITSOX, 

ing.     By  all  moans  give  wine  to  J^ S .     I  wish  yo« 

just  to  give  what  your  own  hearts  prompt,  of  whatever  there 
is  in  the  house,  to  the  needy  and  afflicted,  especially  those  of 
the  household  of  faith. 

"  As  to  my  health,  the  perspirations  and  hectic  fever  have 
occasionally  returned  since  I  wrote  last.  The  weakness  is  as 
great  as  when  I  left  Dirleton.  Since  coming  here,  I  have  not 
been  out  of  doors.  We  must  wait  on  the  Lord.  He  will  do 
all  things  well.  I  must  rest  during  the  months  of  April  and 
May.  It  seems  that,  if  I  began  to  work  sooner,  I  could  not 
live  many  months  or  weeks.  The  Lord  will  supply  my  pulpit 
during  the  interval,  and  watch  over  the  flock,  as  He  ever  does. 
He  is  the  Shepherd  of  the  sheep.  Remember  me  with  kind- 
ness and  pastoral  regards  to  all,  especially  believers,  who  per- 
sonally inquire  after  me." 

"To  THE  Rev.  J.  Dodds. — Edinburgh,  March  29,  1850. 
— Thanks  for  your  kind  exertions  on  behalf  of  myself  and  of 
my  people.  As  yet  I  am  not  stronger.  Whether  the  Lord 
will  be  pleased  to  heal  or  not  is  yet  extremely  uncertain.  It  is 
a  gladdening  consideration  that  he  will  do  what  is  best. 

"  My  ministry  has,  for  the  most  part,  been  eventful,  but  it 
has  been  comparatively  short.  I  have  declared  the  whole 
counsel  of  God,  without  fearing  or  flattering  any  one,  great  or 
small.  This  I  can  say  with  a  good  conscience  ;  but  oh  !  what 
iniquities  I  now  see  to  have  been  in  my  holy  things — iniquities 
forgiven,  but  still  to  be  deeply  mourned  over  !  Never  did  I 
feel  my  utter  soul-nakedness  more  than  during  this  illness.  I 
rejoice  in  giving  all  the  glory  of  my  salvation  to  '  the  Son  of 
God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me.' " 

"  Oh !  I  am  naked,"  said  lie,  as  we  visited  liim  one 
day  during  tliis  interval  of  suspense,  and  found  him 
lying  in  bed  the  very  picture  of  death,  but  his  bright 
eye  lighted  up  with  a  new  brilliancy.  "  I  am  utterly 
naked — nothing — nothing  but  the   righteousness  of 


NOTES  BY  REV.   HORATIUS  BONAR.  345 

Immanuel.  The  sins  of  my  ministry,  how  appalling 
to  me  now !  The  blood  of  souls !  But  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.  My 
dear  people  had  a  blessed  communion.  They  were 
refreshed  at  every  diet."  He  spoke  as  if  still  he  might 
be  restored  to  them,  but  rejoiced  to  be  in  the  Lord's 
hands. 

15* 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

1850. 

LAST  DAYS. 

Patience  in  Suffering — Invitation  to  Prayer — Letter  from  Rajahgo- 
paul — Public  Ministry  closed — Conversations — Tenderness  in  Preach- 
ing— Watchfulness  over  his  flock — Assurance — Visit — Increasing 
"Weakness — Blessed  Hope — Dying  Testimony — Calm  Peace — Silent 
Sabbaths — Familiarity  with  Greek  Testament — Moral  Gravitation 
— Prayer — Spiritual  Judgment — ^Expectation  of  Success — Earnest- 
ness— Human  Depravity — ^Divine  Sovereignty — Agonizing  Suffer- 
ings— Parting  Visits — Calm  Triumph — Concern  for  his  People — 
Death — Funeral  Sermon — Reflections. 

"  Who  am  I,"  exclaimed  Luther  on  witnessing  tlie 
unmurmuring  patience  of  one  of  the  Eeformation-wor- 
tliies  under  tlie  endurance  of  intense  physical  agony 
— "  Who  am  I,  a  wordy  preacher,  in  comparison  with 
this  great  doer  ?"  The  calm  triumph  of  a  deeply-tried 
sufferer  is  now  to  be  witnessed  in  Mr.  Hewitson. 

All  the  month  of  April  he  continued  in  Edinburgh, 
the  flesh  still  fainting  and  failing,  though  not  without 
the  hope  of  being  yet  raised  up.  In  the  beginning  of 
May  we  again  visited  him.  He  was  on  the  sofa,  and, 
as  usual,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand.  The  two  sub- 
jects which   chiefly  occupied  his  thoughts  were  his 


INVITATION   TO   PRAYER.  347 

flock,  and  the  awakening  of  tlie  Church  to  a  deeper 
sense  of  the  possible  nearness  of  the  Lord's  advent. 
He  spoke  of  "  the  holy  Owen"  and  "  the  heavenly- 
minded  Payson,"  as  the  human  patterns  which  seemed 
most  to  attract  him.  But  the  Word  of  God,  and 
Christ  in  the  Word,  formed  his  engrossing  theme. 
One  of  his  remarks  we  cannot  but  remember.  "  I  am 
better  acquainted,"  he  said,  "  with  Jesus  than  with 
any  friend  I  have  on  earth,"  The  words  convey  the 
very  impression  made  by  his  whole  conversation  and 
appearance.  He  looked  like  one  sitting  at  the  feet, 
and  listening  to  the  words  of  a  tender  and  compassion- 
ate human  friend.  And  yet  there  was  no  unholy  fa- 
miliarity. It  was  "the  man  who  is  God's  Fellow'' 
at  whose  feet  he  sat :  hence  a  deep  reverential  solem- 
nity. 

The,  prosperity  of  Zion  still  lay  near  his  heart. 
Though  unable  to  write,  he  dictated  an  "Invitation  to 
Prayer,"  on  behalf  of  the  General  Assembly,  then  on 
the  eve  of  meeting.  We  quote  a  few  sentences.  It 
Was  his  last  production  : — 

"  How  urgent  the  necessity  of  prayer,  at  such  a  time,  on  the 
part  of  all  oiu-  faithful  people — prayer  for  the  special  and  gra- 
cious presence  with  His  servants  of  Him  who  '  holdeth  the 
seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,'  who  '  hath  the  seven  spirits  of 
God,'  and  who  '  walketh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  can- 
dlesticks !'     More  specifically  let  us  ask  for  the  Assembly — 

"  1 ,  The  spirit  of  Fidelity  : — that  there  may  be  a  supremo 
regard  to  the  mind  of  the  Lord  Jesus  revealed  in  His  Word  ; 
that  '  nothing  may  be  done  against  the  truth,  but  for  tht^  truth  ;' 


o48  MEMOIR   OF   REV,    V\^    11.    IIEWITSON, 

that  there  may  be  no  compromise  of  any  of  those  great  princi- 
ples for  which  we  have  been  calfed,  in  the  providence  of  the 
Lord,  to  bear  witness  ;  that,  in  everything  involving  these,  the 
spirit  of  those  words  may  prevail — '  To  whom  we  gave  placo 
by  subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour,  that  the  truth  of  the  gospel 
might  continue  with  you.' 

"  2.  The  spirit  of  UniUj : — that  it  may  please  the  gracious 
Lord  to  grant  that  His  servants  may  be  '  perfectly  joined  to- 
gether in  the  same  mind,  and  in  the  same  judgment;'  that,  jf 
difference  of  opinion  arise,  it  may  be  without  estrangement  of 
heart  and  affection  ;  that  the  love  which  '  beareth  all  things, 
believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things,' 
may  bear  manifest  and  blessed  sway,  and  the  spirit  of  that 
Psalm  be  still  visible  in  the  midst  of  us,  *  Behold,  how  good 
and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity  I' 

"  3.  The  spirit  of  Zeal  for  the  advancement  of  the  gospel 
and  kingdom  of  the  Lord  : — that  the  mind  of  Him  who  came 
to  seek  and  to  save  a  world  lost  may  reign  in  the  Assembly  ; 
that  the  spirit  of  His  apostle  may  animate  every  breast — '  I 
am  a  debtor  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians,  to  the  wise 
and  to  the  unwise ;'  and  that,  with  all  due  regard  to  the 
precept,  '  Owe  no  man  anything,'  the  clause  that  follows  it 
may  not  be  forgotten,  '  but  to  love  one  another ;'  and  that 
word  may  be  exemplified  amongst  us  more  and  more,  '  the 
liberal  deviseth  liberal  things,  and  by  liberal  things  shall  be 
stand.' 

"  4.  The  spirit  of  Wisdom  : — that  the  Lord  would  make 
His  servants  '  of  quick  understanding'  to  devise  right  and  sound 
measures,  as  well  as  ready  to  aim  at  noble  ends  ;  that,  along 
with  '  tho  spirit  of  power  and  of  love,'  there  may  be  given  the 
spirit  also  '  of  a  sound  mind,'  '  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent'  with 
'  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove,'  '  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  un- 
derstanding, the  spirit  of  counsel  and  might,  the  spirit  of  knowl- 
odge,  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord.'  " 

At  length  the  decision  was  given.     "  After  writing 


RESIGNATION,  349 

you  on  Saturday,"  was  the  sad,  though  not  unlooked- 
for  intelligence  of  21st  May,  "  Dr.  Alison  was  again 
called  in ;  and  when  he  was  asked  to  tell  candidly 
what  was  his  opinion  of  Mr.  Hewitson's  case,  he  at 
once  said  that  he  had  no  hope  of  recovery,  and  that 
every  symptom  w^as  that  of  the  last  stage  of  consump- 
tion. In  consequence  of  this,  Mr.  Hewitson  is  now 
most  anxious  to  return  home.  He  felt  it  his  duty  to 
make  use  of  every  means  afforded  here  of  promoting 
his  recovery,  as  long  as  there  was  any  expectation  of 
these  means  being  of  any  service ;  and  he  has  for 
some  weeks  been  only  -waiting  Dr.  AHson's  final  opin- 
ion with  regard  to  his  returning  home.  We  there- 
fore purpose,  if  the  Lord  will,  to  accompany  him  to- 
morrow to  Dirleton,  where  I  hope  you  will  find  him 
on  Thursday.  He  speaks  with  quiet,  peaceable  as- 
surance of  his  departure.  Truly  he  seems  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  already  is  enjoying  immediate 
communion  with  the  Father,  and  with  His  Son  Jesus 
Christ." 

Though  preaching  might  be  said  to  be  his  ruling- 
passion,  yet,  now  that  the  Lord  had  indicated  that  his 
ministry  was  closed,  he  meekly  acquiesced.  "  The 
Lord  has  His  own  way  of  dealing  with  His  servants," 
was  his  remark  to  a  friend.  "  He  is  pleased  to  make 
one  like  a  bowl  of  living  water,  which  shall  be  hand- 
ed round  to  refresh  many  souls.  And  He  takes  the 
same  bowl,  empties  it,  turns  it  upside  down,  and  puts 
it  on  the  shelf,  saying,  '  I  have  no  more  need  of  thee.'  " 


350  MEMOIR   OF   REY.   W.    H.    HEWITSOX. 

Ere  we  follow  him  to  Dirleton,  we  linger  for  a  mo- 
ment over  the  scene  at  Bruntsfield.  Eajahgopaul, 
whose  memory  is  so  fragrant  in  Scotland  because  of 
his  gifts  and  graces,  had  during  these  two  months  so- 
journed under  the  same  hospitable  roof  In  a  letter 
to  India,  dated  the  day  after  their  separation,  the 
youthful  missionary  thus  wrote  : — 

"  To  THE  Free  Church  Missionaries,  Madras. — 
Edinburgh^  May  22,  1850. — Lady  F is  away  to- 
day on  an  errand  of  mercy,  on  the  work  of  a  minis- 
tering angel,  to  watch  over  poor  dying  Mr.  Hewitson 
at  Dirleton.  He  stayed  with  us  at  Bruntsfield  Lodge 
for  more  than  nine  weeks.  The  doctors  gave  up  all 
hope  of  his  recovery  ;  so  he  returned  to  his  parish  to 
testify  of  Christ  in  his  last  hours.  He  has  lived  much, 
very  much,  to  God,  and  near  God.  The  truth  of  the 
prophet  was  never  perhaps  more  fully  exemplified 
than  in  him  :  '  Thou  wilt  keej)  him  in  perfect  peace 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee,  because  he  trusteth  in 
Thee.'  He  looked  to  all  of  us  more  like  one  that  had 
stepped  down  from  the  mansions  of  our  Father  in 
heaven,  than  one  going  to  them.  The  patience,  peace, 
and  resignation,  and  yet  the  ardent  desire  he  had  for 
the  glory  of  the  Saviour  on  earth,  seemed  to  say,  '  For 
me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain.' 

"  Mr.  Anderson  asked  him  yesterday,  a  few  minutes 
before  his  leaving  lis  for  his  parish,  whether  there  was 
any  promise  more  than  another  that  he  leaned  upon 
and  was  precious  to  him.     He  said,  '  Jesus  the  living 


LETTER  FROM   RAJAHGOPAUL.  351 

Saviour,  in.  whom  all  tlie  promises  are  Yea  and  Amen, 
is  more  precious  to  me  than  all  promises.'  He  has 
known  the  Saviour  for  a  long  time,  and  has  held  close 
fellowship  with  Him,  and  now  he  feels  that  he  is  going 
home  to  One  whom  he  knows  well. 

"  Two  days  ago,  when  he  was  thinking  about  his 
flock,  he  made  the  following  touching  verses,  and  Lady 
F.  took  them  down  : — 

'  No  more  I  help  that  vineyard's  growth, 
Though  not  detained  by  drowsy  sloth  ; 
My  feeble  frame's  crush'd  like  the  moth  ; 
God's  will  be  done  ! 

'  No  more  I  reap  that  harvest  field ; 
Its  sheaves  to  others  may  it  yield ; 
My  call  to  hasten  home  is  seal'd : 
God's  will  be  done  ! 

'  Shall  I  then  preach  the  Word  no  more  ? 
Are  all  these  pleasant  labors  o'er, 
And  I  so  near  to  glory's  shore  ? 
God's  will  be  done  !' 

"I  feel  that,  while  his  death  would  be  a  great  loss 
to  the  church  on  earth,  what  a  gain  it  would  be  to 
himself !  If  he  has  served  Christ  on  earth  with  in- 
firmities and  sins,  in  heaven  he  will  serve  Him  like 
the  angels  of  God.  If  he  has  had  to  cry  under  the 
burden  of  sin,  that '  to  will  was  present'  with  him,  but 
how  to  perform  that  which  was  good  he  knew  not,  oh, 
with  what  alacrity,  without  let  or  hindrance,  will  he 
there  serve  his  God !  Last  year,  when  we  came  to 
Edinburgh,  Mr.  Anderson  could  hardly  stir,  and  Mr. 


352  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Hewitson  preaclied  with  great  unction  and  power  be- 
fore the  Assembly  on  '  God  is  love  ;'  but  this  year  it 
is  changed — he  is  confined  to  his  bed,  and  Mr.  A.  is 
to  preach." 

We  visited  Dirleton  on  Thursday,  23d  May.  He 
was  on  the  sofa,  wiih  his  Bible. '  "I have  learned  one 
lesson,"  said  he,  "by  reading  the  Word  in  my  illness. 
I  see  that  even  when  I  preached  with  what  I  felt  to 
be  some  measure  of  tenderness,  I  scarcely  knew  what 
Christ's  tenderness  was.  "  The  Bible,"  he  added, 
"gives  not  only  the  mind  of  God,  but  His  heart.  It 
is  the  latter,  exhibited  to  men,  which  draws  and  )vins. 
I  could  preach  now,  I  think.  I  should  be  far  more 
tender." 

This  is  a  remarkable  testimony  from  such  a  man. 
His  tenderness  had  been  all  along  his  most  marked 
characteristic.  And  yet  now  he  felt  as  if  he  had 
never  known  what  it  was  to  weep  over  souls. 

"  Pectus  est  quod  theologum  facit."  *  So  did  the 
lamented  Neander  embody  the  lesson  taught  by  the 
whole  history  of  the  Church  of  God.  "  We  need  not 
be  ashamed  of  this  maxim,"  he  wrote  seventeen  years 
afterwards  ;  "  shame  rather  to  those  who  were  bold 
enough  to  ridicule  it.  They  have  pronounced  sen- 
tence on  themselves.  It  was  the  watchword  of 
those  who  called  forth  theology  from  the  dead  forms 
of  scholasticism  to  the  living  spirit  of  God's  Word." 
The  same  was  Mr.  Hewitson's  watchword.     "Mere 

*  It  is  tlie  heart  which  makes  the  divine. 


TENDERNESS   IN   PREACHING.  853 

hard  demonstrations,"  he  added,  on  the  occasion  just 
noticed,  "do  not  win^^they  only  steel  the  heart." 

Cecil  speaks  of  preachers  who  "plant  principles  and 
prove  points,  but  fail  to  reach  the  heart."  And  how 
is  the  heart  reached?  Not  by  the  refinements  and 
distinctions  of  a  dead  orthodoxy,  but  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  a  living  Christ.  "  Christ,"  says  the  writer  just 
quoted,  "  cheers  the  prospect.  Everything  connected 
with  Him  has  light  and  gladness  thrown  around  it. 
I  look  out  of  my  window — the  scene  is  scowHng,  dark, 
frigid,  forbidding.  I  shudder— my  heart  is  chilled. 
But  let  the  sun  break  forth  from  the  cloud — I  can  feel 
— I  can  act — I  can  spring.  God,"  he  adds,  "  descend- 
ing and  dwelling  with  man,  is  a  truth  so  infinitely 
grand,  that  it  must  absorb  all  other.  '  You  are  His 
attendants  !  Well !  But  the  King  !— There  He  is  ! 
— the  King  ! "  The  reader  has  not  now  to  learn  that 
such  had  been  the  tenor  of  Mr.  Hewitson's  life  and 
ministry.  And  now  that  he  was  walking  even  more 
immediately  in  the  light  of  God's  face,  the  axiom 
flashed  on  him  with  so  unwonted  impressiveness,  that 
he  seemed  to  himself  to  have  scarcely  ever  preached 
at  all. 

He  was  not  able  that  evening  to  join  the  congrega- 
tion. Having  asked  him,  as  we  went  to  preach,  if  he 
had  any  message  to  his  people  on  this  first  occasion  of 
their  meeting  since  his  return — "  No,"  he  replied  ;  "  no 
message  as  their  dying  pastor :  I  wish  nothing  said  to 
draw  out  their  mere  natural  feelings  towards  me  per- 


354  MEMOIR   OF   REV.   W.   H,   HEWITSOX. 

sonally."  Then,  after  a  pause,  he  added,  "  But  you 
may  say  something  to  draw  them  to  Christ.  Tell 
them  I  affectionately  long  after  them  all  in  the  Lord, 
and  that  my  prayer  for  them  is,  that  they  may  be 
saved."  The  aspect  of  the  people,  as  these  simple 
words  were  spoken,  told  how  much  they  loved  him. 

Though  unable  to  leave  his  room,  his  eye  was  not 
off  the  flock.  "  I  used  to  consult  with  him  weekly 
before  my  stated  visitations,"  writes  Mr.  Lundie,  who 
acted  as  his  assistant  that  summer,  "  and  the  minute 
acquaintance  he  displayed  with  the  state  of  mind  of 
almost  every  member  of  his  congregation  was  surpri- 
sing. He  would  tell  me  who  had  been  converted,  who 
had  been  under  serious  impressions,  who  had  fallen 
back — suggesting  frequently  the  train  of  remark  he 
thought  suitable  for  particular  cases.  "When  he  could 
no  longer  see  his  people  face  to  face,  he  followed  them 
to  their  cottages  with  his  daily  and  earnest  prayers." 

Left,  like  Payson,  whom  in  many  respects  he  so 
much  resembled,  "a  mere  wreck  of  being,"  he  endur- 
ed for  a  period  of  two  months  the  most  distressing 
bodily  suffering.  Like  Payson,  he  suffered  in  silence. 
But  he  was  not  silent  in  telling  of  the  Lord's  abiding 
faithfulness:  his  "tongue  sang  aloud  of  His  righteous- 
ness." 

"Meditate  much  on  the  love  of  Christ,"  he  was 
often  saying  to  those  about  him ;  "  it  is  a  wonderful 
love.  I  love  Him  with  my  whole  heart.  I  long  to  be 
with  my  Beloved." 


CONVERSATION — HOLINESS.  355 

On  another  occasion  Tie  remarked,  "  I  have  seen 
farther  down  of  late  into  the  depths  of  His  amazing 
love  than  ever  I  saw  before.  It  is  surely  a  grievous 
thing  to  doubt ;  it  is  most  dishonoring  to  the  Lord." 

One  day  at  table,  after  drinking  a  tumbler  of  cold 
water,  he  said,  "  "What  a  beautiful  emblem !"  Then, 
dwelling  on  each  word  with  evident  delight,  he  slowly 
repeated,  "  He  showed  me  a  pure  river  of  water  of 
life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne 
of  God  and  of  the  Lamb."  "When  we  reach 
that  river,"  said  a  friend  who  was  present,  "there  will 
be  an  end  of  all  our  weariness  and  languor."  "And 
what  is  far  better,"  rejoined  Mr.  Hewitson,  "  an  end 
of  the  possibility  of  sinning." 

"I  wonder,"  he  said  again,  "  that  any  Christian  can 
be  content  while  a  single  stain  remains  on  the  con- 
science unwashed  by  the  blood."  "  Yet  how  many 
live,"  remarked  his  friend,  "as  if  one  washing  were 
enough!"  "One  bathing,"  Mr.  Hewitson  rejoined, 
"  is  enough :  he  that  is  bathed  needeth  not  save  to 
wash  his  feet.  I  always  press  upon  young  converts 
the  necessity  of  daily  washing  in  the  blood  as  of  pri- 
mary importance,  and  as  indispensable  to  holiness. 
When  the  believer  washes  daily,  the  very  repetition 
of  the  act  keeps  the  conscience  sensitive  to  sin." 

Another  day,  contemplating  the  glory  of  Christ, 
he  said,  "  '  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing ;'  what  a 
close  and  pleasant  connection  with  Christ  in  all — all 
that  we  do,  even  the  smallest  things  !     These  hands, 


856  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

tliese  eyes,  these  ears,  these  feet — they  are  not  ours, 
they  are  bought  with  a  price.  I  cannot  do  this,  be- 
cause Christ  would  not  have  done  it.  I  cannot  look 
on  that,  because  Christ  would  not  have  looked  upon 
it.     This  is  a  very  safe  rule  of  conduct." 

On  another  occasion,  assurance  was  the  subject  of 
conversation.  His  views  on  that  point  were  very  clear 
and  decided.  Now,  as  at  the  ouvset  of  his  Christian 
course,  it  was  whilst  his  eye  was  turned  outward  on 
Christ,  not  inward  on  his  own  faith,  that  his  jDeace 
was  "  like  a  river."  "  '  Who  shall  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christ?'  "  said  he.  "  '  Shall  tribulation, 
or  distress,'  &c.?  'Nay;  in  all  these  things  we  are 
more  than  conquerors,  through  Him  that  loved  us.' 
We  cannot  but  triumph."  "Yet  how  few,"  said  one 
who  was  present,  "seem  to  triumph!"  "Ah!"  said 
Mr.  Hewitson,  "  it  is  want  of  faith.  It  is  not  a  cun- 
ningly-devised fable  which  we  believe ;  the  thing  is 
true — of  course  we  must  triumph.  I  can  testify  to 
the  glory  of  God's  grace,"  he  added,  with  a  smile  of 
lowly  thankfulness,  "that  no  night  do  I  confess  my 
sin  without  absolute  confidence  that  it  is  forgiven ;  I 
know  it  to  be  so.  If  any  one  ask  me  how  I  know  it, 
I  just  answer — '  If  we  confess  our  sins,  God  is  faith- 
ful and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us 
from  all  unrighteousness.'  I  believe  in  God's  truth- 
fulness, that  is  all.  All  that  tends  to  unbelief  is  of 
Satan ;  all  that  tends  to  faith  is  of  the  Spirit." 

"I  am  glad,"  said  fi  venerable  minister  who  had 


CONVERSATION — ^ASSURANCE.  357 

come  from  a  distance  to  pay  Mm  a  farewell  visit,  "that 
you  have  such  pleasant  experience  of  peace  in  your 
soul."  "It  is  nothing  more,"  replied  Mr.  Hewitson, 
"than  might  be  expected  by  a  Christian.  The  right- 
eousness of  Christ  is  my  stay.  •  That  sustained  me  in 
Madeira  in  the  midst  of  persecution  and  difficulties ; 
it  has  sustained  me  through  all  my  ministry ;  and  it 
sustains  me  now."  "  It  is  a  great  privilege,"  remarked 
his  friend,  "  to  be  enabled  to  bear  the  testimony  you 
now  do."  "And  a  humbling  thing,"  replied  Mr. 
Hewitson,  "  The  more  grace,  the  more  self-empty- 
ing." On  the  visitor  withdrawing,  Mr.  Hewitson, 
after  musing  for  some  time  in  silence,  remarked — 
"Dr. thinks  far  more  of  my  experience  and  at- 
tainments than  I  do.  What  is  it  but  the  simple  ful- 
filment of  my  Father's  promise — '  I  will  keep  him  in 
perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee?'  " 

He  grew  visibly  feebler  week  by  week.  "I  feel," 
he  said  one  day,  "my  fleshly  tabernacle  decaying." 
"  But  we  have  a  house  not  made  with  hands,"  said  a 
friend,  "eternal  in  the  heavens."  "Ah!  that  is  not 
all,"  rejoined  Mr.  Hewitson  hastily;  "we  know — we 
Jcnoiu— that  we  have  a  house.  It  is  this  'knowing' 
which  makes  us  confident,  and  willing  rather  to  be 
absent  from  the  body  and  present  with  the  Lord."  ■ 

"I  fear  you  arc  much  weaker  to-day,"  said  one  of 
his  elders  who  came  in  to  see  him.  "Yes,"  he  re- 
plied, "  but  I  can  lean  on  the  everlasting  arm.  I  find 
it  the  same  now,  when  enterin":;  the  dark  vallo\ .  that 


oo8  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

I  said  it  was  in  the  pulpit.  It  is  on  that  arm  that  I 
long  to  see  every  member  of  the  congregation  resting. 
I  loved  my  Portuguese  in  Madeira  so  much,"  he  pro- 
ceeded to  say,  "  that  I  thought  I  could  never  be 
equally  attached  to  another  congregation,  but  I  feel 
now  that  I  am  as  much  attached  to  Dirleton." 

He  seemed  to  feed  continually  on  the  Word.  It 
was  truly  living  manna  to  him.  Lying  one  day  on 
the  sofa,  distressed  by  laborious  breathing,  he  said — 
"'In  Judah  is  God  known;  His  name  is  great  in 
Israel.'  Sometimes  this  verse  brings  exquisite  pleas- 
ure to  my  soul — the  thought  that  in  this  unrighteous 
world  there  are  those  among  whom  God  is  known — 
to  whom  His  name  is  great!"  He  dwelt  on  this 
thought  for  some  time,  says  his  friend,  with  all  the 
delight  of  one  whose  interests  were  swallowed  up  in 
God's,  adding,  "  'O  Lord,  our  Lord,  how  excellent  is 
Thy  name  in  all  the  earth!'  "What  a  heaven  the 
world  will  be  when  that  can  be  said  of  it !  How  dif- 
ferent now !     His  name  is  despised." 

The  blessed  hope  of  the  Lord's  "appearing"  was 
much  upon  his  mind  during  his  last  days.  "  It  was  a 
subject,"  writes  his  sister,  who  attended  him,  "  very 
dear  to  his  heart,  and  seemed  to  be  even  more  pre- 
cious to  him  as  he  drew  near  his  end.  He  did  not 
overlook,"  adds  the  same  eye-witness,  "  the  blessed- 
ness of  departing  and  being  mth  Christ.  But  his 
Lord's  coming  in  His  kingdom  was  the  subject  of  his 
daily  }n-ayer  and  his  most  blessed  hope.     '  Every  day,' 


t'ONVERSATIO:N' — BLESSED   HOPE.  359 

was  Ilis  frequent  testimony  to  us,  '  I  feel  more  and 
more  comfort  from  it.'  "  So  concerned  was  he  about 
this  matter,  that,  only  two  days  before  he  died,  there 
were  read  over  to  him  the  lecture  he  had  delivered 
the  preceding  winter  on  "  the  Kingdom  of  Christ," 
and  also  an  essay  on  "  Communion  with  God,"  which 
he  had  read  during  the  winter  before  the  Presbytery. 
These  he  desired  to  leave  as  his  matured  view.  His 
object  in  thus  combining  them  was  to  show  that  the 
blessed  hope,  as  he  held  it,  was  truly  a  doctrine  ac- 
cording to  godliness. 

"  The  native  energy  of  his  character,"  remarks  a 
friend  who  saw  him  frequently  during  his  last  illness, 
"  was  remarkably  displayed  in  his  unwillingness  to 
yield  to  his  disease.  It  was  amazing  to  see  him,  with 
his  pulse  upwards  of  120,  sitting  daily  at  the  dinner- 
table,  and  joining  in  the  conversation,  almost  as  if  in 
health.  I  was  frequently  struck  with  the  perfect  ease 
and  freedom  with  which  he  always  entered  into  my 
own  affairs  and  those  of  others,  as  if  he  had  not  a  pain 
or  care  of  his  own  to  occupy  him.  His  remarkable 
acuteness  of  mind  never  forsook  him.  T^e  precision 
and  even  subtlety  of  the  distinctions  he  was  so  skilled 
in  drawing  were  most  striking  in  a  dying  man.  The 
perfect  peace  he  enjoyed  no  doubt  contributed  greatly 
to  this." 

ISTo  trial  affected  him  so  deej)ly  as  his  silent  Sab- 
baths. "Another  silent  Sabbath!"  he  used  to  say,  as 
each  of  them  went  past.     On  the  communion  Sabbath 


360  MEMOIR  OF   KEY.    W.   H.   HEWITSON, 

especially,  the  privation  was  very  trying.  "Ah!  that 
was  my  work,"  he  said  to  the  brother  who  had  been 
officiating,  as  he  was  telling  him,  on  his  return,  about 
the  sermon  ;  "but  it  is  my  Father's  will — yeviffirixoi  to 
dikjj/na  Tov  Kuqiov'^  (the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done). 

The  quotation  from  the  original  Greek  is  character- 
istic. "  You  should  read,"  said  he  one  day  to  a  young 
minister,  "  a  chapter  of  the  Greek  Testament  every 
day  of  your  life.  I  have  long  done  so ;  and  now 
when  I  read  the  English,  I  know  what  the  original  is 
without  referring  to  it."  Those  who  knew  him  will 
remember  the  happy  use  he  made  of  this  accomplish- 
ment in  his  conversation  on  the  "Word  of  God.  Wc 
give  a  single  specimen :  "  What  a  blessed  thing  it  will 
be,"  a  friend  was  remarking  to  him  one  day,  "  to  be 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  the  flesh!"  "Yes," 
was  his  reply,  "  and  instead  of  bondage,  be  introduced 
into  the  liberty  of  the  glory.  Our  translators,"  he 
added,  turning  to  Eom.  viii.  21  in  the  little  Greek 
Testament  which  lay  always  beside  him,  "  have  spoiled 
the  antithesis  in  that  verse,  by  imagining  a  Hebraism 
which  does  not  exist — '  The  creature  shall  be  delivered 
from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of  the 
glory  of  God's  children.'  " 

One  day,  sitting  in  a  contemplative  mood,  he  fell 
into  a  train  of  thought  which  not  unaptly  illustrated 
his  own  hidden  life.  "  There  is  a  gravitation,"  said 
he,  "  in  the  moral  as  in  the  physical  world.  When 
several  bodies  are  collocated  near  each  other  in  the 


CONVERSATION — PRAYER.  361 

heavens,  that  which  has  the  greatest  weight  talies  tiie 
central  place,  and  the  others  move  round  it  as  satel- 
lites. So  when  several  desires  are  operating  simulta- 
neously in  the  soul,  that  which  is  strongest  occupies 
the  governing  place  of  the  will,  and  the  rest  give  way. 
When  love  to  God  is  habitually  in  the  ascendant,  or 
occupying  the  place  of  ^vill,  it  gathers  round  it  all 
other  desires  of  the  soul  as  satellites,  and  whirls  them 
along  with  it  in  its  orbit  round  the  centre  of  attrac- 
tion—God." . 

On  another  occasion  he  remarked  concerning  prayer: 
"  Prayer  is  heard  when  it  passes  from  the  believer's 
heart  to  the  Eedeemer's  heart,  and  is  appropriated  by 
the  Eedeemer,  or  made  His  own."  The  biographer 
of  Payson  observes,  that  "  prayer  was  eminently  the 
business  of  his  life."  The  same  may  be  said  of  Mr. 
Hewitson.  "  My  heart,"  was  his  meek  testimony  one 
day  in  the  midst  of  severe  bodily  suffering,  "  is  ever 
above  with  Jesus."  At  frequent  intervals  in  conver- 
sation his  soul  seemed  to  be  lifting  up  itself  in  silent 
prayer.  The  effect  was  that  pecuHar  heavenliness 
which  sat  upon  him  continually. 

"  Once  I  overheard  him  in  prayer,"  writes  Theodo- 
ras of  Martin  Luther,  "  but  oh !  with  what  life  and 
spirit  did  he  pray !  It  was  with  as  much  reverence 
as  if  he  were  in  the  felt  presence  of  God,  yet  -with  as 
much  confidence  as  if  he  had  been  speaking  to  a 
friend."  Such,  it  may  be  gathered,  was  Mr.  He  wit- 
son's  secret  praying.     And  his  praying  in  the  pulpit 

16 


862  MEMOIR   OF   KEY.    W.    H.   HEWITSON. 

or  in  the  family  was  in  the  same  strain.  He  prayed 
not  as  an  alien  or  an  inquirer,  but  as  a  child  of  God. 
He  did  not  pray  at  the  people,  or  for  them,  but  with 
them.*  It  was,  however,  with  believers  that  he  pray- 
ed ;  in  regard  to  others,  he  was  the  believers'  mouth 
in  seeking  their  conversion. 

"  A  man  of  spiritual  discernment  can  scarcely  open 
his  lips  to  one  who  has  none,"  was  his  remark  another 
day,  "  without  incurring  the  unmerited  charge  of  un- 
charitableness,  of  captiousness,  of  censoriousness,  of 
assumption,  or  something  similar.  He  must,  in  the 
presence  of  the  ungodly  or  carnal,  '  withhold  his  mouth 
even  from  good,'  or  his  '  good  will  be  evil  spoken  of.'  " 
This  observation  explained  not  a  little  of  his  way  in 
his  intercourse  with  men.  His  very  silence  sometimes 
brought  on  him  reproach. 

If  his  silence  brought  on  him  reproach,  his  words 
sometimes  not  less  offended.  Alluding  one  day  to  an 
erroneous  construction  which  a  brother  had  put  upon 
some  expression  used  by  him  respecting  the  state  of 
his  people,  he  vindicated  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual 
judgment  as  to  the  presence  or  the  absence  of  grace, 
thus :  "  To  discern,"  said  he,  "  is  not  to  act  the  part 

*  With  his  usual  good  sense,  Mr.  Newton,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
writes :  "  The  prayers  of  some  good  men  are  more  like  preaching  than 
praying.  They  rather  express  the  Lord's  mind  to  the  people,  than 
the  desires  of  the  people  to  the  Lord.  Indeed,  this  can  hardly  be 
called  prayer.  It  might,  in  another  place,  stand  for  a  part  of  a  good 
sermon,  but  will  afford  little  help  to  those  who  desire  to  pray  with  their 

hearts The  spirit  of  prayer  is  the  spirit  and  token  of  tlie  spirit 

of  adoption." 


CONVERSATION — SPIRITUAL  JUDGMENT.         363 

of  the  censor — ^it  is  an  act  of  perception,  not  an  act 
of  judgment  at  all,  in  tlie  forensic  sense.  We  may 
spiritually  discern  a  man's  words  and  doings  to  be  car- 
nal, and  yet  not  be  sitting  in  judgment  on  tbe  man, 
in  the  offensive  sense  of  the  expression.  Just  as  we 
discern  colors,  saying  this  is  red  and  that  blue,  so 
does  the  man  of  God  who  has  spiritual  perceptiveness 
{aiodrjaig)  discem  the  character  of  moral  actions,  say- 
ing that  this  is  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  of  the  flesh — 
this  is  of  God,  and  that  of  the  world.  Discernment," 
he  proceeded  to  say,  "  does  not  imply  an  imputation 
of  motives — it  only  appreciates  the  general  character 
of  the  motives  as  carnal  or  spiritual,  without  reference 
to  the  question,  what  be  the  particular  motive  or  mo- 
tives in  each  case."  Whilst  cautiously  abstaining  from 
uttering  in  the  presence  of  others  an  opinion  concern- 
ing any  particular  person's  spiritual  state,  he  found 
this  exercise  of  his  spiritual  judgment  of  the  greatest 
value  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  It  enabled  him 
to  regulate  with  rare  skill  his  dealings  with  individual 
souls,  indicating  where  encouragement  was  needed, 
and  where  warning — ^where  probing  of  the  wound, 
and  where  binding  up. 

On  another  occasion,  referring  to  the  same  subject, 
he  remarked,  "  It  is  vain  to  argue  with  a  man  whose 
perceptions  are  not  like  your  own.  What  you  see  to 
be  yellow  he  sees  to  be  green,  and  he  will  believe  his 
own  eyes  rather  than  yours,  thinking  you  unreasonable 
in  soliciting  his  judgment  against  the  evidence  of 


364  MEMOIR  OF   KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

his  senses.  That  your  judgments  may  agree,  you 
must  first  have  similar  powers  of  perception."  And 
following  out  the  train  of  thought,  he  deduced  this 
corollary :  "  No  man  will  believe  one  thousandth  part 
of  what  God  says  in  the  Bible,  until  he  be  born  again, 
and  so  be  not  only  brought  into  God's  light,  but  like- 
wise endowed  with  a  perceptive  eye  like  God's." 

Nor  was  this  all.  Even  where  the  perceptive  eye 
is  given,  there  are  degrees  of  fineness  in  the  percep- 
tion— some,  in  virtue  of  the  first  touch  from  the  Lord's 
fingers,  seeing  men  as  trees  walking ;  others,  whose 
eyes  have  been  touched  again  and  again,  seeing  more 
and  more  clearly.  His  eye  had  been  often  touched  ; 
hence  his  singularly  vivid  perception  of  the  objects 
lying  within  the  domain  of  spiritual  vision  in  the 
Word,  and  hence  also  the  little  sympathy  he  met  even 
from  many  brethren. 

"  If  there  be  nothing  between  God's  wrath  and  the 
sinner's  guilt,"  he  said,  speaking  on  another  subject, 
"  these  may  be  kept  apart  during  a  time  of  long-suf- 
fering ;  but  every  moment  they  are  mutually  drawing 
nearer,  this  to  that.  The  moment  of  collision  will  be 
— who  can  tell  how — terrific !" 

The  other  side  of  the  antithesis  he  puts  thus :  "If 
the  blood  of  Christ  be  between  the  sinner's  guilt  and 
God's  wrath,  these  two  will  approach  it  on  this  side 
and  on  that.  The  blood,  meeting  on  the  one  side  with 
the  wrath,  will  extinguish  it  forever :  the  blood  meet- 


CONVERSATION — EARNEST  MINISTRY.  865 

ing  on  tlie  other  side  witli  the  guilt,  washes  it  away, 
and  makes  the  soul  whiter  than  snow." 

"Did  you  ever  notice  the  fact,"  was  his  remark  to 
a  visitor,  "  that  John  was  a  priest  as  well  as  a  prophet  ? 
As  a  priest  he  baptized  Christ — ^in  this  typifying  His 
death  on  the  cross,  which  Christ  himself  calls  His  bap- 
tism. Thus  emblematically  he  led  the  Lamb  up  to 
the  altar  for  sacrifice,  leaving  Him  there  in  God's 
hands ;  for  God  Himself  must  smite  this  sacrifice.  In 
this  way  John  performed  the  last  priestly  act  required 
of  man." 

Again :  "  The  smitten  rock  and  rushing  water  tell 
us  that  life  and  gladness  come  all  from  the  suffering 
Christ.  Never  forget,  when  drinking  pardon,  peace, 
joy,  newness  of  life,  from  the  streams  of  salvation, 
that  you  press  your  lips  to  the  wounds  of  Jesus,  that 
you  drink  the  life-blood  of  the  Son  of  God." 

Again :  "  It  is  said  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  '  so 
preached,'  that  many  were  saved.  There  is  a  kind 
of  preaching  which  is  peculiarly  blessed  to  the 
awakening  and  conversion  of  sinners.  Much  may  be 
done  by  the  '  so  preaching.'  I  have  often  been  much 
impressed  with  the  statement,  that  they  preached  the 
gospel '  with  power  and  with  much  assurance.'  When 
this  expecting  spirit,  this  assurance  of  success,  is  given, 
the  blessing  will  surely  follow." 

This  expectation  of  success  he  continued  to  the  last 
to  regard  as  not  the  least  weighty  element  in  his  own 
successful  ministry.    President  Edwards  observes,  in 


Q66  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

closing  his  life  of  Brainerd,  that  "  his  history  shows  us 
the  right  way  to  success  in  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
He  sought  it  as  a  resolute  soldier  seeks  victory  in  a 
siege  or  battle,  or  as  a  man  that  runs  a  race  for  a  great 
prize."  Mr.  Hewitson  resembled  Brainerd  in  this. 
"  How  fully  you  express,"  a  friend  had  written  him 
in  1846,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hewitson  on  the 
point,  "  what  I  have  often  felt  about  the  glorious  duty 
— privilege  is  scarce  explicit  enough — of  looking  for 
present  fruit  from  present  labor  in  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard !  Indeed,  I  am  free  to  say,  to  the  praise  of  glo- 
rious grace,  what  I  am  pretty  sure  your  experience 
goes  along  with,  that  it  is  since  I  began  to  look  for 
and  expect  a  present  blessing,  that  the  Lord  has  been 
pleased  to  bestow  it."  Mr.  Hewitson  often  reverted 
to  this  subject  with  great  emphasis  in  these  conversa- 
tions of  his  last  days. 

Another  feature  of  the  successful  minister  was  often 
noted.  "  Truth,"  said  he,  "if  it  be  not  in  the  heart 
as  well  as  on  the  tongue,  is  truth  denied  by  the  speaker, 
and  therefore  truth  suspected  hy  the  hearer.  To  per- 
suade— to  be  effective — not  only  speak  the  truth,  but 
feel  it,  and  so  as  to  make  it  manifest  that  you  do  so." 
Mr.  Hewitson 's  ministry  had  been  eminently  an  ear- 
nest one.  He  had  "  so  preached,"  that,  whether  men 
believed  or  no,  they  felt  that  the  preacher  spoke  be- 
cause he  believed.  It  was  not  the  earnestness  of  the 
flesh — not  vehemence,  not  noise,  not  physical  fervor 
— ^but  the  deep,  calm,  solemn,  gentle  earnestness  of  the 


CONVERSATION — EARNEST  MINISTRY.  367 

Spirit.  There  was  no  scolding,  no  impatience,  no  angry 
upbraiding,  but  the  tenderest  pity ;  he  warned  and 
besought  with  tears.  This  was  his  "  unanswerable  ar- 
gument." 

He  often  spoke  of  man's  natural  depravity.  One 
day  his  thoughts  on  this  subject  fell  into  a  train  like 
the  following : — "  Judas  was  the  representative  of  hu- 
man nature,  of  fallen  man.  In  him  'the  flesh'  en- 
joyed advantages  greater  than  it  ever  enjoyed  before 
or  since — the  advantages  of  early  religious  culture — 
of  being  called  to  discipleship — of  being  placed  in  the 
highest  office  of  ministry — of  being  admitted  to  the 
personal  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  the  Lord — of 
being  treated  by  Him  with  condescension,  familiarity, 
and  kindness.  The  *  flesh'  never  had  so  favorable  an 
opportunity  for  self-melioration  and  self-recovery.  It 
was  put  to  the  test  under  the  happiest  influences,  but 
only  left  to  itself,  that  its  real  character  might  be 
manifested.  And  what  was  the  result  ?  Enmity 
against  God — hatred  of  Love  Incarnate.  Judas  be- 
trayed his  Lord !" 

His  views  of  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  grace  be- 
came more  and  more  decided  as  he  advanced.  "The 
gift  of  Christ  to  die  as  a  sacrifice,"  he  remarked  one 
day,  "  was  not  more  truly  and  entirely  a  free-will  gift 
of  God,  than  is  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  to  regenerate." 
"  It  were  as  easy,"  he  said  again,  "  to  make  an  atone- 
ment for  our  own  sins,  as  to  effect  a  regeneration  of 
our  own  hearts.     Ho  who  does  not  admit  the  need  of 


368  MEMOIR  OF  REV.   W.   U.   HEWITSON. 

a  regenerating  Spirit,  will  soon  deny  tlie  need  of  an 
atoning  Saviour :  that  man  has  a  root  of  Unitarianism 
under  ground,  whicli  will  ere  long  sprout  and  show 
itself  above  the  surface."  And  further :  "  No  man 
who  denies  the  necessity  and  the  freeness  of  regene- 
rating grace,  can  possibly  have  right  views  on  the 
subject  of  the  atonement." 

But,  in  preaching,  he  had  handled  this  delicate 
theme  with  a  tact  and  tenderness  which  made  the  sin- 
ner feel  that,  whilst  himself  utterly  depraved  and  help- 
less, his  inability  to  love  the  Lord  was,  not  a  pallia- 
tion, but  an  aggravation  of  his  guilt.  Often  did  he 
revert  to  this  subject,  urging  the  necessity  of  follow- 
ing God's  own  pattern  in  His  recorded  messages,  and 
deploring  that  mistaken  zeal  for  orthodoxy  which 
hinders  a  full  and  free  gospel  under  the  idea  of  main- 
taining God's  sovereignty.  Finding  God  in  the  Word 
presenting  a  naked  appeal  to  sinners  to  come  to  Him, 
unaccompanied  by  any  caution  about  the  danger  of 
supposing  they  could  come  of  their  own  free-will,  he 
was  content  to  be  not  wiser  than  God — not  more  jeal- 
ous of  His  sovereignty  than  He  is  Himself.  Even  his 
direct  statements  of  the  Divine  sovereignty,  when  this 
topic  was  handled,  were  made  with  a  heavenly  sweet- 
ness, which,  as  Cecil  says  of  Traill,  "while  it  rendered 
it  almost  impossible  not  to  receive  his  sentiments,  left 
nothing  on  the  mind  but  a  religious  savor." 

"  The  iron  chain,"  he  remarked  on  another  occasion, 
••  which  binds  the  believer's  heart  to  the  world,  is,  un- 


LONGINGS  AFTER  PERFECT  HOLINESS.  869 

der  the  file  of  Divine  grace,  being  gradually  worn 
away,  and  by-and-by  it  will  become  too  weak  to  bang 
together.  Meanwhile,  the  golden  chain  which  binds 
the  believer's  heart  to  heaven  is  waxing  stronger — ^its 
links  are  growing  more  firm  and  massive ;  all  the 
powers  of  hell  will  not  prevail  to  break  them !" 

Towards  the  end  of  July  it  became  apparent  that 
the  links  of  "  the  iron  chain"  were  at  length  to  be  sev- 
ered. His  weakness  now  confined  him  entirely  to  bed. 
The  agony  of  pain  was  at  times  so  excruciating,  that 
for  hours  he  could  not  utter  a  word.  One  night,  after 
five  hours  of  such  agony,  during  which  not  a  feature 
of  his  countenance  had  been  distorted,  he  said,  "  If  I 
could  have  spoken,  I  should  have  asked  you  to  pray 
that  I  might  have  grace  to  endure  to  the  end.  But  I 
have  got  th*e  victory.     The  Lord  is  good — very  good. 

" '  I  long  to  mount  and  soar  a-way 
To  you  bright  realms  of  endless  day.'  " 

"  I  fear  your  shortness  of  breath  causes  much  suf- 
fering," said  a  friend  to  him  on  another  occasion. 
"  Very,"  he  replied.  Then,  asking  for  a  glass  of  wine, 
which  revived  him  a  little,  he  added,  the  efibrt  to 
speak  making  him  struggle  violently  for  breath — "  I 
shall  soon  be  in  the  presence  of  Jesus."  "What  a 
change  it  will  be  from  this  sad  struggle !"  rejoined  his 
friend.  "Yes,  yes,"  he  said  quickly,  as  if  anxious  to 
correct  an  erroneous  impression:  "but  it  is  not  for 
that  I  wish  it.  I  am  willing  to  bear  all  this  from  my 
16* 


370  MEMOIR  OF   KEV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

Father.  It  is  working  for  good.  I  long  to  be  with 
Jesus — to  be  holy  as  God  is  holy — that  is  what  I  long 
for." 

His  thirst  for  holiness  appeared  to  grow  in  intensity 
day  by  day.  "  One  thing  I  have  learned  in  this  ill- 
ness," he  said — "  to  know  more  of  the  intrinsic  loveli- 
ness of  holiness,  and  the  intrinsic  hatefulness  of  sin. 
How  glorious  it  will  be  to  be  with  Jesus ! — how  suita- 
ble for  the  pure  in  heart ! "  When  he  was  taking  his 
little  meals,  he  used  to  say — "  I  long  for  the  time  when 
I  shall  have  no  more  need  of  these  things.  I  long  to 
be  holy  as  God  himself"  He  appeared  never  to  swal- 
low his  medicine  or  his  half-glass  of  wine,  without 
pausing  to  give  God  thanks. 

His  patience  was  remarkable.  "  This  is  very  trying 
to  the  flesh,"  said  a  visitor  to  him  after  a  violent  and 
protracted  fit  of  coughing.  "Yes,"  was  his  reply, 
"  the  flesh  does  not  like  it,  but  it  is  the  Lord's  will  I 
should  suffer  it,  and  that  sweetens  it  a  good  deal." 
And  at  another  time,  after  a  similar  attack,  exhausted 
and  struggling  for  breath,  he  whispered — "  This  is  one 
of  the  rough  places  of  the  road,  but  then  it's  the  right 
road,"  "  The  Lord  has  ever  been  with  you,"  said  an- 
other visitor,  "  and  He  will  not  forsake  you  now  in 
your  hour  of  trial."  "He  never  will,"  he  replied ;  " I 
know  it,  I  hioiv  it." 

The  Word  was,  in  his  sufferings,  as  it  had  been  in 
his  whole  life  and  ministry,  the  abiding  source  of  his 
strength ;  and  his  method  of  feeding  on  it  was  charac- 


CHAMBER  OF   DEATH— CALM   TRIUMPH.  371 

teristic.  A  friend  had  been  quoting  to  Hm  texts  illus- 
trative of  God's  faithfulness.  "Texts  like  these,"  he 
remarked,  after  his  friend  had  withdrawn,  "do  not 
give  me  so  much  comfort  as  '  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  onlj-begotten  Son, '  &c.,  or,  '  He  that 
spared  not  His  own  Son,'  &c.  Plain  doctrinal  state- 
ments, exhibiting  the  heart  of  God,  are  more  sustain- 
ing to  me  than  mere  promises.  I  like  to  get  into  con- 
tact with  the  living  Person." 

On  another  occasion,  during  one  of  his  paroxysms, 
a  brother  in  the  ministry  repeated  to  him  several  texts 
in  succession.  "You  gave  me  too  many  texts,"  he 
remarked  afterwards.  "I  like  one  at  a  time,  unless  it 
were  another  illustrating  the  former  one;  I  like  to 
feed  on  the  Word.-  when  a  new  text  is  given,  the 
other  is  lost." 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Monday,  29th 
July,  he  became  suddenly  worse.  A  paroxysm  more 
severe  than  any  he  had  yet  suffered,  seemed  to  threat- 
en almost  immediate  dissolution.  The  paroxysm, 
after  a  few  hours,  passed,  but  left  him  so  oppressed 
that  he  could  no  longer  lie  in  bed,  but  was  obhged  to 
sit  up  in  it,  almost  in  an  erect  posture. 

"On  seeing  him  in  the  morning,"  says  a  brother 
who  had  been  assisting  the  previous  day  at  the  com- 
munion, "I  observed  a  great  change.  I  was  about  to 
leave  for  home,  but  he  said,  '  Can  you  not  wait  a  little  ? 
I.  am  scarcely  breathing.     I  am  dying!'  " 

We  saw  him  that  day  for  the  last  time.     It  was 


372  MEMOIR   OF  REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSON. 

truly  an  affecting,  yet — praise  to  the  God  of  grace! — 
a  most  comforting  and  joy-inspiring  scene. 

"  I  saw  him  when  the  time  of  his  release  was  come, 
And  I  longed  for  a  congregated  world  to  behold  that  dying  saint. 
As  the  aloe  is  green  and  well-liking,  till  the  last  best  summer  of  its  age, 
And  then  hangeth  out  its  golden  bells,  to  mingle  glory  with  corrup- 
tion— 
Such  was  the  end  of  this  righteous. 
His  filming  eye  was  bright  with  love  from  heaven  *, 
His  every  look  it  beamed  praise,  as  worshipjjing  with  seraphs ; 
What  honeycomb  was  hived  upon  his  lips,  eloquent  of  gratitude  and 

prayer  1 —  , 

What  triumph  shrined  serene  upon  that  clammy  brow  I — 
What  glory  flickering  transparent  under  those  thin  cheeks  1 — 
What  beauty  in  his  face  I" 

If  the  poet  had  been  picturing  the  dying  chamber 
at  Dirleton,  he  could  not  more  truthfully  have  delin- 
eated the  scene.  Our  dear  brother  was  unable,  from 
exhaustion,  to  speak  at  parting.  A  look  conveyed 
what  was  in  his  heart. 

During  the  rest  of  the  week  he  lingered  on  in  the 
same  exhausted  state,  suffering  at  intervals  great 
agony,  but  waiting  patiently  for  his  change.  One  or 
two  of  his  people  were  allowed  to  see  him  for  a  little. 
He  was  not  able  to  speak  to  them ;  but  his  eyes  spoke, 
following  them  as  they  departed.  One  morning,  about 
two,  he  said  to  his  sister,  "Oh!  was  not  that  a  won- 
derful thing,  the  agony  which  Jesus  suffered  in  the 
body  for  our  sins?  And  that  agony  was  only  an  in- 
dex of  what  He  suffered  in  His  soul."  The  dying 
love  of  Christ  seemed  to  be  filling  his  whole  heart. 

At  the  end  of  the  week,  as  a  friend  was  taking 


CHAMBER  OF  DEATH — CALM  TKIUMPH.  37S 

leave,  and  was  referring  to  his  great  sufferings,  lie 
said,  "The  Lord  has  never  forsaken  me,  and  He  never 
will — never.  It  is  the  best,  the  kindest,  the  most 
fatherly  way.  Faith  receives  it  now ;  sight  shall  soon 
behold  it." 

The  next  three  days  his  sufferings  continued  un- 
abated. On  the  Tuesday  afternoon  they  were  agon- 
izing. But  the  Lord  gave  him  grace  to  endure.  To- 
wards evening  the  pain  was  relieved.  At  length, 
about  midnight,  lifting  himself  up  in  bed,  he  raised 
his  hands  and  eyes  in  prayer :  "  Oh,  my  people  !"  he 
cried.  These  were  his  last  words.  A  few  minutes 
afterwards,  he  calmly  "fell  asleep."  It  was  on  7th 
August,  1850. 

On  the  following  Monday  his  remains  were  commit- 
ted to  the  dust,  amidst  the  tears  of  sorrowing  brethren 
and  of  his  bereaved  flock.  And  next  Sabbath,  from 
the  words,  "  My  flesh  also  shall  rest  in  hope,"  the  eye 
of  the  mourning  congregation  was  pointed  to  "  that 
day" — so  dear  to  the  heart  of  their  departed  pastor — 
when,  the  Lord  Himself  descending  "from  heaven 
with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and 
with  the  trump  of  God,"  "  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first ;  and  then  we  who  are  alive  and  remain,  shall  be 
caught  up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet 
the  Lord  in  the  air ;  and  eo  shall  we  ever  be  with  the 
Lord." 

The  "  living  epistlo  of  Christ,"  now  before  the 


374  MEMOIR  OF   REV.   W.   H.   HEWITSOX. 

reader,  is  written  bj  the  Spirit  in  claaracters  too  legi- 
ble to  need  the  aid  of  an  interpreter.  May  He  who 
inscribed  it  bless  this  memorial,  so  that  the  departed, 
though  dead,  may  yet  speak. 

Let  the  man  who,  having  "  the  form  of  godliness," 
is  consciously  "  denying  the  power,"  listen  to  the  silent 
protest  of  the  holy  life  here  faintly  sketched.  Let 
him  who  is  reconciled  to  God  and  brought  nigh,  learn 
at  once  the  blessedness  of  walking  worthy  of  such  a 
fellowship,  and  the  method  of  so  walking. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  not  straitened.  What  he 
wrought  in  Mr.  Hewitson,  is  He  not  willing  to  work 
in  us  ?  Not  in  vain  shall  this  humble  tablet  have  been 
reared,  if,  stimulated  by  it  to  new  lore  and  hope,  some 
way-worn  pilgrim  hasten  forward  with  new  alacrity 
towards  "  the  day  of  Christ." 

"  The  altar  of  his  heart  is  lighted,  and  burneth  before  God  continually, 
And  he  breatheth,  conscious  of  bis  joy,  the  native  atmosphere  of  heaven : 
Yea,  though  poor,  and  contemned,  and  ignorant  of  this  world's  wisdom, 
111  can  his  fellows  spare  him,  though  they  know  not  of  his  value. 
Thousands  bewail  a  hero,  and  a  nation  mourneth  for  its  king ; 
But  the  whole  universe  lameuteth  the  loss  of  a  man  of  prayer." 


THE  END. 


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